An 18-Year-Old Lied About Being Kidnapped, Raped

3-24-17 Texas;

On March 8, 18-year-old Breana Talbott went missing. Her fiancé called the police, saying her car was found in an apartment complex parking lot with her door open and her phone, keys, and a shoe nearby.

Later that night, she walked into a church wearing only her T-shirt and her underwear. She had scratches on her body, and she told people at the church that she had been kidnapped, taken to the woods, and gang-raped by three black men wearing ski masks.

She lied. In a press released posted on Facebook on Wednesday, the Denison, Texas police department announced that Talbott has since confessed her entire claim was a hoax. In a newly-released statement, he police said that they knew something was up after just a few days, because her story started to unravel:

“We believe the crime scene – from the initial ‘kidnapping’ scene at the apartment complex to the point of Talbott’s condition when she walked into the church - were staged,” the statement reads. “Talbott also admitted the injuries to her body were self-inflicted.”

Texas won't participate in national sex offender registry

10-6-2012 Texas:

Six years after a bill establishing a national sex offender registry was signed into law, Texas and most other states are not participating.

Texas officials say the national registry is too costly, and it's willing to risk losing about $1.4 million in grant money that would help local agencies enforce the law.

State lawmakers say the grant money is far less than the estimated $38  million it would cost to modify the state's registry program.

"We couldn't afford the national program," said Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. "The local law enforcement doesn't have the money, and the state doesn't have the money."

Nearly three dozen states have failed to meet all the conditions of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act because of concerns about how it works and how much it would cost. Texas, Arizona, Arkansas, California and Nebraska have opted out of the national registry.

Members of the state Senate Criminal Justice Committee made the decision following an interim meeting two years ago. Local law enforcement officials testified against complying with the act, saying it would add more sex offenders to the state's already extensive registry.

70,000 registered

About 70,000 sex offenders were registered as of August, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

The federal law, named after a boy kidnapped from a Florida mall and killed in 1981, was supposed to create a uniform system for registering and tracking sex offenders. However, soon after President George W. Bush signed it, many states realized they would have to overhaul their sex offender registration programs to comply.

States were required to comply by 2009, but the U.S. attorney general gave states an extension to July 2011 after many objected to a requirement that all juveniles 14 and older who had committed aggravated sexual assaults register for 25 years.

Texas juveniles are required to register for 10 years after they leave the juvenile system. The state, however, gives judges discretion to waive or remove a juvenile from the register. They also can defer a decision until after the juvenile successfully completes therapy. Those options would be removed under the federal law.

Other concerns

States also have concerns because the federal law categorizes offenders by crime and not by the risk they pose.

To comply, Texas would have to add certain offenses that require registration under the federal law. The state also would have to eliminate its use assessment to determine each offender's risk to the community. Offenders are registered as either low, moderate or high risk.

Allison Taylor, executive director of the Council on Sex Offender Treatment, testified that Texas has been working to narrow the sex offender registry to dangerous sex offenders and the federal law would undo this work. The growing registry has made it difficult and costly for local law enforcement to maintain the registry and monitor sex offenders, she told the committee.

Proponents of the federal law had hoped it would ease the risk that states with less-stringent registration would become havens for sex offenders.

Whitmire said the state's system is effective, but lawmakers will need to figure out how to ensure that only most dangerous offenders are on the list. Many offenders are registered because they had consensual sex with a minor, he said.

Texas lawmakers also should consider repealing language that prohibits de-registering low-risk offenders, he said. Adult offenders are required to register for life.

Decision supported

Ana Yáñez-Correa, executive director of the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, said the state made the right choice to ignore federal law. Texas is probably one of the toughest states on sexual offenders, so there's no need to waste money changing the system, she said.

The penalty for not complying is 10 percent of Byrne grant funds, given to law enforcement agencies for crime prevention.

Texas and the other four states that have decided not to honor the law still have the option to reapply for withheld money.

The 29 states that are in partial compliance have asked to have their withheld money released to help them meet conditions of the law. ..Source.. by Renée C. Lee

Should Teens be Prosecuted for Having Sex?

If it is correct, that 4,500 on Texas registry are teens (7.14%), and we apply that to the national registry, it means there are 49,980 teen lives being destroyed in the nation. 5-3-2012 Texas:

Should teens be criminally prosecuted for having sex? A number of advocates say no, despite what sex offender laws require. Learn more in the following article.

The purpose of sex offender registration is to keep children safer from dangerous pedophiles. According to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, more than 700,000 registered sex offenders reside in the United States, with more than 63,000 living in the state of Texas. Because of the rigid registration requirements, many teenagers are forced to register even though they do not fit the profile of serial offenders.

In Texas, more than 4,500 teens are registered as sex offenders. As a matter of law, they are considered a threat to society; but in reality, they may be just as vulnerable as the children the laws are geared to protect. After all, many of these cases stem from "Romeo and Juliet" romances where teenagers fall in love and have consensual sex despite their age differences. (In Texas, the legal age of consent is 17, so a child cannot "legally" consent to having sex.) As such, these cases commonly do not involve the exploitation or danger associated with sex crimes, but when someone (usually a young boy) is convicted of such a crime, the label "sex offender" makes the public believe that he is a serial rapist or pedophile.

All of which raises the question: should teens be criminally prosecuted for having sex?

A number of advocacy groups say no. One group, Texas Voices, has lobbied to change sex offender laws that can have a permanent effect on a young person's life. Texas has more than 20 crimes that can lead to registration on a sex offender list for a minimum of 10 years.

The "sex offender" label can deprive a young person of meaningful opportunities to advance in society. He or she may be ineligible for college scholarships, denied a number of employment opportunities and be prohibited from living in certain areas.

Even more troubling, a growing body of research suggests that widespread registration (and monitoring) is not particularly helpful in maintaining public safety. It is viewed as an expensive solution and a drain on public resources. In fact, the Texas legislature has been embroiled in a long dispute over the implementation of the Adam Walsh Act, a federal law intended to create a uniform system of nationwide sex offender registration, and to account for transient offenders who could become "lost" in between state registries.

In the meantime, many teens unwittingly face harsh consequences for sex crimes, especially considering how sexting (sending illicit photos through text messages) is prosecuted in Texas.

Criminal defense attorneys understand the lifelong consequences of being labeled as a sex offender. If you have questions about your rights and options, contact an experienced lawyer. ..Source.. by Article provided by Shook Gunter & Wirskye, Attorneys at Law