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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSex Offender Signs Publicly Identify Convicted Predators In Florida
STARKE, Fla. -- Brian Speer thought he had completed all of his obligations when he registered in Bradford County as a convicted sex predator after serving an eight-year prison sentence for child molestation.
But now, in addition to submitting to a public registry for sex offenders, he has a permanent reminder of his crime posted right in his front yard: a bright red sign reading, "Brian Speer is a convicted Sexual Predator and lives at this location."
The sign is one of 18 the Bradford County Sheriff's Office erected in mid-April outside the homes of convicted sex predators.
The signs have been praised by many residents in the small rural county southwest of Jacksonville, but some question whether the new measure reaches too far and could be harassment against people who have served jail terms and already submit to the public registry. Neighboring Baker County started a similar program six years ago.
"I think it's a lot of bull," said Speer, who was convicted of lewd or lascivious molestation in 2004. "I believe that anybody that has any criminal background should have a sign in front of their house if we have one in front of ours."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/07/florida-sex-offender-signs-_n_3230957.html
Purveyor
(29,876 posts)From the article:
The signs are only for sexual predators, not for all sex offenders, Brad Smith said. Florida defines a sexual predator as someone who has been convicted of a first-degree sex crime such as child molestation or sexual battery or has been convicted of two second-degree sex crimes such as solicitation of a minor or lewd, lascivious, or indecent assault. A judge also can designate a person a sex predator.
I'm ok with this as long as it is limited to 'sexual predators'.
WestStar
(202 posts)I'd be tempted to call for branding them across the forehead.
Donald James Smith, of Jacksonville, was charged Saturday with murder and kidnapping in the death of Cherish Perrywinkle.
Authorities said Smith befriended the girl and her mother while they shopped at a dollar store Friday night.
Smith took them to a Wal-Mart, where he offered to buy them clothes and hamburgers, according to the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office.
Instead of buying the snacks, Smith walked out of the store with the girl, the sheriffs office said. The girls mother called 911 when she noticed they were missing.(snip)
Smith has been a registered sex offender since a 1993 conviction in Duval County for attempted kidnapping and selling obscene materials. He has been arrested several times since then, most recently in 2009 on a charge of child abuse after making obscene phone calls to a 10-year-old girl, making verbal threats, and impersonating a social worker with the Florida Department of Children and Families who claimed to be investigating the girls family.
http://tampa.cbslocal.com/2013/06/23/police-sex-offender-kills-8-year-old-after-befriending-girl-her-mom-at-dollar-store/