Florida Sex Offender News

Weekly Update 2018-01-22

Dear Members and Advocates,

As “registered” sex offenders, we are a vulnerable group. Our names, pictures, addresses and what vehicles we drive are publicized on a website. With a request to FDLE, our email addresses and other information about us can be easily had. Combine the easy access to personal information with society’s general indifference to our safety and you create a population that’s extremely susceptible to physical or emotional attack. Many of us, as convicted felons, can’t even possess weapons to protect ourselves or our families. Recognizing law enforcement’s apathy, we are reluctant to report when we become victims of vandalism, violence or scams. It has to stop!

From the vigilantes to the opportunists, individuals and even businesses are seizing on this vulnerability and we are constantly learning about registrants being harmed because of their information being promoted on public registries. This past weekend, a registrant in Las Vegas was killed because some psycho set out to kill a sex offender. This week we learned of a scam where people pretending to be law enforcement are extorting money from registrants, claiming that if they don’t pay a fee (generally through the purchase of a green dot or similar prepaid card), they will arrest them for a registration violation.

As we posted this warning, reported by one of our members, at least two more contacted us to let us know they fell victim to this scam. There are undoubtedly plenty more victims out there and so many more potential victims who are not networked with other registrants to know these scams are going on. That’s why it’s so important to do outreach to the communities. To let others know we are here and to add as many registrants and their families to our mailing lists so they will receive our weekly update and know what’s going on.

If you know of a scam, please let us know immediately so we can tell others. If you receive a call, email or regular mail and are unsure if it’s legitimate but don’t want to call law enforcement yourself, let us know and we’ll investigate it. Don’t be scared or ashamed. We need to look out for each other.

On that note, the lawsuit that ClearMyCase filed against us for defamation was dismissed this past week. ClearMyCase is a company out of Texas that was using the sex offender registry as a mailing list to solicit sex offenders. They were trying to get them to pay a “consultation fee” to find out whether they could be “de-registered”. Their marketing materials were horribly misleading, and it didn’t take much research to discover this company was preying on our population with false hope and lies. We posted warnings to our members and hope those warnings helped prevent registrants across Florida (and other states) from being taken.

Another reason we are sending this weekly update early is to remind everyone of our Call to Action concerning tomorrow’s Commission vote in Miami-Dade. More information about the amendment we are opposing and how you can help, can be found here: https://floridaactioncommittee.org/call-to-action-miami-dade-to-consider-bovo-amendment-tomorrow/. Considering this is a pet project of Ron Book, we are not holding out much hope that the Commission will care to do the right thing. Our objective, at this point, is to create a strong record of our objection and bring as much attention to this as possible. A government legislates citizens into homelessness and then arrests them for being homeless!

Finally, in the coming week FAC will be sending out invoices for our annual member dues. Asking for dues and donations is never a comfortable position to be in, but the reality is that we desperately need your support in order to accomplish our goals for 2018. As a not-for-profit that is solely staffed by volunteers, we are proud of all that we have been able to accomplish in years past, including our participation in several legal challenges. We hope to do even more going forward and for that to happen, we need everyone to pitch in. When you send in your annual dues (or pay them online at https://floridaactioncommittee.org/donations/) , please consider adding a donation to our legal fund or outreach. It will make a difference!

Sincerely,

The Florida Action Committee

SOME HEADLINES FROM THIS WEEK

Former Sex Offenders Won’t Qualify to Haul Garbage

I started reading a hopeful story about a Florida company called WastePro, that was initiating a program to help the formerly convicted find work. The company, which has garbage, recycling and horticultural pickup services in 28 areas in Florida, seemed to have great…

WARNING: New Scam Targets Sex Offenders

The following was shared by a Member: I’m writing to inform you of a scam that was pulled on my husband who is a sex offender last night in hopes you can share with others so it doesn’t happen to them. He received a phone call from a man claiming to be a deputy from…

DOJ Report Shows prosecutions for “online sexual exploitation” doubled in less than 10 years

Sex Offender News A recent report from the US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics shows a 91 percent increase in the number of people prosecuted for “commercial sexual exploitation of children” (CSEC). A statistic that should be shocking if you assume…

BBC to air a feature on Miracle Village – January 24th – calls Florida Sex Offender Laws “Punishment for Life”

Inside the isolated US community dubbed the ‘Miracle Village’ where HALF the population are sex offenders – and strict laws mean they will NEVER return to normal society From the outside it looks like any sleepy suburb, but the so-called ‘Miracle Village’ contains a…