sex-offenders - Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo

San Juan Capo Looks to Further Restrict Sex Offenders

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 01:52:00 GMT

San Juan Capistrano is looking into passing ordinances banning sex offenders from city parks. City Council members want to allow such an ordinance but are concerned over the legal issues that might ensue and future lawsuits against the city. City attorney Omar Sandoval proposed two options for the city that would restrict registered sex offenders from city parks. One option is prosecuting sex offenders who do not have permission from San Juan Capistrano PD to be present at the park with a misdemeanor offense. A first time violation would be possible jail time of six months and up to $500.00 in fines. Second and third violation would include jail time and fines. Another option would allow a registered sex offender to accompany their child to the park as long as they had written permission with a date, time and location. Other permissible instances would be, for work, religious, free speech or voting events. See Penal Code Section 290.

33,000 Inmates from State Prisons to be Released

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 04:37:00 GMT

After an order from the U.S. Supreme Court, California has to eliminate 33,000 inmates from its prisons due to overcrowding and basically inhumane conditions. Inmates will be released, sent to other states or sent to county jails to serve their sentences. Various county officials expressed their reservations over the reduction plan which has to be carried out over a period of two years. Another concern is for the condition of the county jails. An attorney with the ACLU explains that the county jails also have terrible conditions. L.A. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich said that L.A. County does not have mental health program in its jails or the money to house additional offenders. According to the NPR report, low level offenders will most likely be sent to county jails while violent felons or sex offenders will not. In order to take on more inmates L.A. County needs more staff, more space and more mental and medical services, all of which mean more money is needed. California is currently struggling with its budget and many sectors are or will face serious budget cuts. Throwing more money into the jail system means more revenue has to be generated or allocated.

Teacher Gets Time for Having Sex With Student

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Tue, 18 May 2010 03:51:00 GMT

33-year-old Amy Beck is a middle school teacher at David Starr Jordan Middle School in Burbank. But she isn’t just your typical teacher. She was just sentenced to two years in state prison for having sex with her 14-year-old student over the course of seven months. In addition to the prison time, Beck will have to register as a sex offender.

Under California Penal Code Section 290, upon release from local jail, state prison, or completion of any alternative sentence, convicted sex offenders are required to register within five working days of moving into any law enforcements agency’s jurisdiction and when they change their name or residence address or location. In addition, every sex offender is required to register annually within five working days of his or her birthday. Sex offenders who have no residence address are considered “transient” and are required to update their registration once every 60 days. Sex offenders who have been convicted of a felony and fail to register can be charged with a new felony for failing to register.

Beck had turned herself in at the Burbank Police Department as she was overridden with guilt. She was subsequently booked on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts (California Penal Code Section 288(a)).

Parole System Failure Despite Visits by Parole to Their Homes

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:28:00 GMT

The stories of Anthony Sowell (multiple bodies found in his home) and Phillip Garrido (kidnap victim living in his home since 1990s) have touched on the issue of monitoring registered sex offenders. Regular visits by parole to their homes did not lead to any discoveries that things were wrong. Garrido’s officers would conduct searches of his home on surprise visits. In Ohio, Sowell’s terms were to check in with parole and agents would show up to his residence to confirm he was still there but his terms did not include routine searches of his house. Questions now arise as to why all went unnoticed to officials in each case. There was an investigation into Garrido’s parole officers in order to determine if agents missed signs of irregularities and whether incorrect training was also an issue. Whether these cases will motivate a reform effort on how sex offenders are monitored after incarceration is yet to be seen. Conducting a more in depth monitoring of sex offenders would require more time and man power and that of course means more money then states at this point might not have. If it is determined agents need to be retrained or the monitoring system updated with new rules to implemented, the next issue becomes getting the funds necessary to make the changes in an already cash strapped system.

Here Harry Smith of CBS News reports on this issue: