Secret Service officer arrested in Delaware child sex sting

11-12-15 National:

A Secret Service officer assigned to the White House has been arrested after he was caught sending pictures of his genitals to what he thought was a 14-year-old girl in Delaware, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Delaware.

Lee Robert Moore, 37, of Church Hill, Maryland was allegedly chatting on a social media application with an undercover Delaware State Police detective when he sent the naked photos of himself and requested that they meet, according the complaint.

Moore was placed on administrative leave and turned himself in at the Maryland State Police Barracks on Monday.

Myths and research on sex offender registries

5-16-15 National:

Studies show that while public sex offender registries sound like a good way to keep a community safe, the numbers tell a different story. And widely held beliefs turn out to be myths — among the more prevalent is that most sex offenders are pedophiles who might snatch a child from a park or bus stop.

Here are the myths, and the research that debunks them.

■ Sex offenders are among criminals most likely to re-offend.

The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics examined 9,691 sex offenders from 15 states and found that 5.3% were arrested within three years of being released from prison, compared with 73.8% of those who committed property crimes and 66.7% of those convicted of drug offenses. The number drops even lower with the passage of time, with the majority of the new crimes committed within five years of release.

■ Most sexual assaults are committed by a stranger.

"Stranger danger" is rare. Studies show about 93% of child sexual abuse victims knew their assailant, about 34.3% are family members, and 58.7% friends or acquaintances, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.

Today's Untouchables: Sex Offenders

4-15-2014 Global:

Sex offenders are the foremost pariahs of our current day. In opinion polls, even intravenous drug users place higher. A recent series of high profile cases involving child sexual abuse have revealed the maddening frequency of the problem. My hometown newspaper now exists in electronic format, and as I read the local news, it seems that every other week brings a report of a new crime against minors. This is only the tip of the iceberg. Most are the product of incest, unreported, hushed up within families. The offenses that occur in a public setting, among those who aren't blood relatives, most often make it to most peoples' attention.

One of the few places sex offenders are welcomed and made to feel included are in houses of worship. It shouldn’t be said that the red carpet is necessarily rolled out for them. Yesterday, during Meeting for Worship, an issue that has lain smoldering for over a year once again took center stage. A frequently tone-deaf member of the Meeting implied strongly in her vocal ministry that the sex offender who has been Worshiping with us has no right to participate. He has provided no problems whatsoever for anyone since he began attending, three or so years ago. In her mind, exhaustive policies made to ensure child safety were a waste of time, since there was no way to contain the potential threat.

Flight risk: Airline policy profiles men as sex offenders

8-16-2012 Global:

Are you a man? You might be a pedophile - at least according to Virgin Airlines. An upstanding male passenger was asked to move seats on a Virgin flight from Australia recently and was informed it was because of the airline's policy prohibiting men from sitting next to unaccompanied children. Virgin is not alone. Apparently many international airlines, including British Airways, have this policy in effect because according to their reasoning, the "overwhelming majority" of sex offenders are male.

"We're trying to prevent child victimization. We know the overwhelming majority of sex offenders are male, so by removing that situation you're lowering the risk," said John Shehan of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the United States.

At first I tried to figure out the problem with a man next to a kid on a flight. How do you molest a stranger in public? It seems like the same risk of getting randomly stabbed - should we all be seated four feet apart on flights? And if men can't sit next to kids on flights, should they be banned from sitting next to them at restaurants or passing by them at the mall? Should we put blinders on all men, bind their hands and cover women and children in beekeeper suits? Sarcasm, of course. When I first heard of this story I was confused about what, exactly, was the risk of a man sitting next to a child in a highly regulated environment like a flight. No one has lighters or blades on flights anymore, shall we worry about letting men carry candy? And what is a good pedophile when stripped of his scary white van??

Sex offender home told to disband

3-14-2014 Missouri:

City of Springfield issued order on 'Recovery Chapel'

A group home on the Springfield's southeast side is being told to close.

Four of the eight people in the house on the 1800 block of Crestview have past sexual crimes. Farris Robertson, Chaplin Emeritus of Recovery Chapel, says the men are being given a second chance to get back into society, while at the same time being watched carefully.

"We harbor no predators," said Robertson. "We in fact are the first in front line to identify abnormal and unacceptable behavior and we talk to them about it and that they are going to have to change and if they don't, they leave and we are the first ones to notify the authority."

Friday, the city denied a permit for that group home saying city ordinance forbids a group home setting for several convicted criminals in a single-family neighborhood. The city is ordering Recovery Chapel to comply with the city code within 30 days.