Archive for January, 2010

Protect Our Children, Inc. has conducted a community notification for residents of Miami Gardens, located in the vicinity of Landshark Stadium. The postal advisory was mailed Tuesday, January 26, 2010, from Brevard County. Residents have been informed that a British national, Peter Townshend, will be in the area on or before February 7th, for the N.F.L. Super Bowl event. Townshend was registered as a sex offender in the U.K. for an offense related to child-pornography. He will be performing with the musical group: “The WHO”.

The bilingual notifications will be delivered via U.S. mail January 28th. The post card can be viewed by clicking the “Advisory” link below.

Further information on Townshend’s offense is available at Child Abuse Watch. Their link is located to the right of this page. The data includes a six-part, video documentary covering his 2003 arrest and confession to police. His qualifying offense is listed as: ”Inciting Another To Distribute Child Pornography”.

Click Below To See Two Page Advisory:
ADVISORY
(Adobe PDF Format)

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of confining some sex offenders after their criminal sentences have ended. A three-judge panel heard arguments January 12^th in response to a challenge filed by federal inmates who say the law violates their rights.

Solicitor General Elena Kagan told the court that the federal government has a responsibility to detain individuals when  “…that person has the kind of mental illness that is going to cause grave danger to the community”.

The controversial program is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which was signed into law in 2006. Twenty states, including Florida, have their own civil commitment laws aimed at addressing the pathology of sex offenders rather than the criminality of their acts.

The case before the Supreme Court does not affect the rights of states to pass and enforce their own laws imposing indefinite confinement upon sexual felons. Florida’s version, The Jimmy Ryce Act, became law in 1998. It is named for a nine year-old Miami boy who was murdered three years earlier by a convicted predator: Juan Carlos Chavez.

Justices for the Supreme Court are expected to hand down their decision in Summer 2010.