Free Republic

What is it about the internet (Sidebar: Why all of a sudden are people calling it the “internets?”) that makes politicians’ brains go all numb and mushy? Consider this from CNET News for this past Friday: Millions of commercial Web sites and personal blogs would be required to report illegal images or videos posted by their users or pay fines of up to $300,000, if a new proposal in the U.S. Senate came into law.The legislation, drafted by Sen. John McCain and obtained by CNET News.com, would also require Web sites that offer user profiles to delete pages posted by...

Some residents in Chisago City are taking action after a convicted sex offender living in their neighborhood is rearrested for stalking young girls. State lawmakers and residents will attend a City Council meeting Tuesday night to discuss tougher restrictions for sex offenders in the state of Minnesota. Registered sex offender Jeffery Holmgren was convicted in Nebraska in 1995 for sexually assaulting a young girl and for several cases of indecent exposure. He served time in the state of Nebraska. In 2004 in Ramsey County, Holmgren received probation for exposing himself and masturbating at an intersection while he was stopped near...

Islamic terrorists may be targeting mentally disturbed or disabled people in Britain in a bid to form a new “brigade” of home-grown suicide bombers, security officials fear. MI5 and police say the case of Nicky Reilly, who is being held over a nailbomb attack last week in Exeter, may indicate a new strategy of targeting vulnerable people with mental health problems to carry out attacks. A counterterrorism official said MI5 was investigating the extent to which Reilly had been manipulated by a “charismatic” Al-Qaeda recruiter. “It is a grotesque concept but they are using people who are clearly mentally subnormal,”...

"What is the attitude of the DCFS when confronted with over 3,000 mistakes they made? Spokesman Kendall Marlowe 'acknowledged that mistakes are made, but he said the vast majority of people…were placed there properly… he declined further comment.'"The DCFS chief administrative law judge Meryl Paniak said, 'A lot of what happens at these hearings is it becomes a legal process, not… whether it happened or not, but whether enough evidence is presented.'"Not a hint of apology, not a whiff of promise to a better job. In one word, arrogant."Ned Holstein of Fathers & Families has an interesting post on a...

Texas: Plano man Joe Barron, 52, a minister at Prestonwood Baptist Church near Dallas, was arrested after driving nearly 200 miles to Bryan to meet who he thought was a 13-year-old girl he had been chatting with sexually online for roughly two weeks. The girl was actually an undercover agent leading police to Barron and his car, inside of which they found condoms and a web-cam. He had been with the 26,000-member church for 18 months; they said this was the first incident of this type with Barron. Executive pastor Mike Buster said, "We are disturbed and saddened by the...

From the Associated Press' Sex Offender Banned from Son's Graduation (5/10/08): "School and law enforcement officials have told a St. Joseph man that he can't attend his son's eighth-grade graduation because he is a convicted sex offender and isn't allowed on school property. "James Jones, 36, said he may go anyway although the Buchanan County Sheriff's Department has told him he would be arrested and face up to four years in prison. "'I've already been punished for this. This isn't about me anymore. Now they're punishing my kids, and that's taking it a little too far,' said Jones, who served...

Public spectacle draws police A registered sex offender who drives around town with a puppy in his lap and hangs out at schools, parks and soccer games has one man so unnerved he made a public spectacle of himself Wednesday morning outside the Battlement Mesa Activity Center. Travis Metcalf made such a display that he was issued a citation by police for disorderly conduct after allegedly threatening a registered sex offender. He has a court appearance set for June 25. Other witnesses to the outburst told attendants inside the activity center, 398 Arroyo Drive, to call the Garfield County Sheriff’s...

SNOHOMISH — The patch under the bridge is closed in by brambles. Rodent tracks crisscross in the dirt. It may be dry, but still it's not fit for human habitation. Unless you're a sex offender, that is.The underside of the 88th Street bridge, near this river town's greenhouses and horse farms, is where state government last week assigned a released rapist to sleep. David J. Torrence, who assaulted a 16-year-old girl in 1995, had completed his latest prison term (for failing to register as a sex offender.) He had no place to go. So officials gave him a sleeping bag...

Kerrville police are applauding the efforts of U.S. Marshals and the Mexican government in apprehending a suspected sex offender who fled across the border last July to avoid prosecution in the Hill Country. Officials said Adrian J. Guia Jr., 21, was arrested last week after being expelled from Mexico and is being held in the Val Verde County Jail pending extradition to Kerr County, where he faces a charge of sexual assault of a child based on a complaint by a 14-year-old female acquaintance. “We are extremely pleased that the United States Marshals have been able to work with the...

Kimberly Coulter remembers riding her bike all over St. Paul’s east side as a kid, not a worry on her mind. These days she’s a Cottage Grove mother of two, and though she says she feels safe raising her kids in their quiet neighborhood near Grey Cloud Elementary School, Coulter said the knowledge a convicted sex offender lives nearby leaves her wary of letting her 10- and 12-year-old even go around the block. “It’s scary,” she said after last week’s public forum on sexual predators hosted by the Cottage Grove Police Department at Cottage Grove Junior High. Coulter said she...

PUYALLUP, Wash. (AP) - A powerful explosion blew the top off a house where a registered sex offender described as acting paranoid had rented a room and appeared to have been making bombs, deputies said Tuesday. Investigators found a body in the rubble Tuesday morning, Pierce County sheriff's Detective Ed Troyer said. They believe they know the person's identity but did not release details. He said the couple who owned the house told authorities late Monday they had returned from a trip and found their tenant was acting strangely and making explosive devices. Troyer said the man was in the...

Those who peer at children in public could find themselves on the wrong side of the law in Maine soon...

ALBANY (1010 WINS/AP) -- The state Assembly has given final approval to legislation intended to protect teenagers who use social-networking sites from online predators. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo introduced the Electronic Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act in January. It requires registered sex offenders to provide online screen names to state officials. They would share the identities with Web hangouts like MySpace.com and Facebook.com, who are authorized to prescreen or remove offenders. It also restricts use of the Internet by certain sex offenders on probation and parole. The Assembly also passed legislation that would increase criminal penalties for using...

APRIL 3--A Wisconsin woman who was charged two weeks ago with having sex with a teenage boy was arrested again yesterday when cops went to her residence and found her there with the child. Jaime Foss, 31, was immediately jailed for violating bail terms imposed after she was charged March 19 with three counts of sexual assault of a child. Foss, who was nabbed shortly before she was due in court on the original charges, is pictured in the below mug shots, which were snapped after yesterday's bust and her initial arrest. As part of her bail package, Foss was...

Online Sex Offender Alert System Launched New Service Is Free   POSTED: 12:35 pm EDT March 27, 2008 UPDATED: 12:57 pm EDT March 27, 2008   ORLANDO, Fla. -- Authorities in Florida on Thursday introduced a high-tech alert system that helps people keep track of sex offenders and predators.   The new feature, which is free at www.floridasexoffender.net, allows registered users to enter numerous street addresses, such as a home, workplace or school. When a sex offender or predator moves into that specified area, an e-mail alert about the offender and his or her address will be sent to...

Bexley woman arrested on child-sex charge Thursday, March 27, 2008 11:48 AM THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Becky Jo Tatum Becky Jo Tatum A Bexley woman wanted on a charge that she had oral sex with a 14-year-old girl during a party at her home was arrested at a Far East Side apartment complex this morning. Becky Jo Tatum, 41, of 2761 Bellwood Ave. was taken to the Franklin County jail after her 9 a.m. arrest at the Kensington Commons apartments at Gender and Refugee roads. Police said they found Tatum after receiving an anonymous tip. Tatum, a mother of two, regularly...

Public's help needed to find missing sex offender William A. Blythe         Story Published: Mar 21, 2008 at 1:38 PM PDT Story Updated: Mar 21, 2008 at 3:00 PM PDT By KOMO Staff   Pierce County sheriff's detectives are seeking the public's help in locating a missing Level 3 sex offender with a history of child rape and molestation. A reward of up to $1,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest of William A. Blythe, 29, who is considered very dangerous and at serious threat to re-offend. A felony warrant has been issued...

A team mother of a private basketball team has posted bail following her arrested for allegedly having sex with a 16-year-old boy on the team, police said Monday. Janice Marie Niccoli, 37, was arrested at her Vacaville home Friday on two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor more than 10 years younger, Sgt. Charlie Spruill said. Niccoli posted bail Saturday afternoon, Spruill said. Niccoli, the single mother of two boys, allegedly met the victim while traveling with a private club boys basketball team last year. Spruill said the alleged sexual encounters happened at Niccoli's home in April and...

“Operation Cold Play” helps identify 171 convicted illegal alien sex offenders in Virginia. Virginia’s Attorney General Bob McDonnell, State Police, and investigators from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) say the investigation is a part of “Operation Predator,” a multi-year effort targeted at sex-offenders across the country. The 171 people identified in “Operation Cold Play” is only phase one of the ongoing operation, according to McDonnell. The criminal aliens arrested for crimes in our area include: * A person from Mexico, arrested for a crime in Blacksburg * A person from Honduras, arrested for a crime in Clifton Forge Read...

Since the Hillary event could not be held yesterday (she canceled, due to high winds...broomsticks cannot land in high wind)...... Impeached President and Sex Offender Bill Clinton will be in Roanoke, VA today. He will be speaking at 6:30 PM at Patrick Henry High School. Since many of us will be attending the Huckabee event, you guys please step up and FREEP this guy!! FREEPmail me if you can help, I have a sign you can use from yesterday's FREEP of Hillary.....