Posts Tagged ‘Sex Offender’

REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER CONVICTED

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER CONVICTED OF VIOLATING ORANGE COUNTY CHILD SAFETY ZONE ORDINANCE BY ENTERING MILE SQUARE REGIONAL PARK ON CINCO DE MAYO

WESTMINSTER - A registered sex offender was convicted yesterday for violating the Orange County Sex Offender Ordinance by entering a County park. Hugo Godinez, 29, Santa Ana, was found guilty Nov. 14, 2011, of one misdemeanor count of prohibited sex offender entering a County park without the written permission from Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD). He was also convicted of one misdemeanor count of failing to register and show proof of residency upon release from incarceration. He faces a maximum sentence of one year in Orange County Jail at his sentencing hearing on Nov. 17, 2011, at 1:30 p.m. in Department W-13, West Justice Center, Westminster.

ORANGE COUNTY CODIFIED ORDINANCE 3-18-3 (PROHIBITED OFFENDER ENTERING A COUNTY PARK)
California Penal Code sections 290, et seq. require individuals convicted of certain crimes to register as sex offenders. The registration process is used to ensure that such offenders shall be readily available for police surveillance at all times because such offenders are deemed likely to commit similar offenses in the future.

The Orange County Codified Ordinance 3-18-3 defines an Orange County Park as any County-owned, leased, operated or maintained land before or after the effective date of this Ordinance by the County of Orange held as a harbor, beach, park or recreation area, including but not limited to Arroyo Trabuco Park, Carbon Canyon Regional Park, Clark Regional Park, Craig Regional Park, Featherly Regional Park, Irvine Regional Park, Laguna Niguel Regional Park, Mason Regional Park, Mile Square Regional Park, O’Neill Regional Park, Orange County Zoo, Peters Canyon Regional Park, Santiago Regional Park, Harriett M. Wieder Regional Park, Yorba Park, Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park, Caspers Wilderness Park, Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, Thomas F. Riley Wilderness Park, Talbert Nature Preserve, Aliso Beach Park, Capistrano Beach Park, Newport Harbor, Salt Creek Beach Park, Sunset Beach Park, Dana Point Harbor, and Sunset Harbour. The Ordinance seeks to protect children by restricting registered sex offenders’ access to these locations. Violators may be punished with up to six months in jail and/or a $500 fine.

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REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER SERIAL RAPIST CONVICTED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING FOUR WOMEN AND SECRETLY VIDEOTAPING THE RAPES

Thursday, October 27th, 2011

SANTA ANA - A serial rapist registered as a sex offender stemming from a child molest conviction was found guilty late yesterday of sexually assaulting four women in his apartment and surreptitiously videotaping the rapes without the victims’ knowledge or consent.

James Ernest Bledsoe, 30, Huntington Beach, was found guilty by a jury Oct. 20, 2011, of two felony counts each of forcible rape, rape of an unconscious woman who was unable to resist, rape of woman who was unable to resist due to intoxication, sexual penetration by foreign object of a person who was unable to resist due to intoxication, one felony count each of assault with intent to commit sexual assault, forcible oral copulation, oral copulation of an unconscious person who was unable to resist, oral copulation of an intoxicated person, sexual penetration by foreign object by force, and failure to register as a sex offender. He was found guilty of four misdemeanor counts of secretly filming another with the intent to arouse and one misdemeanor count of resisting and obstructing an officer. The jury found true the sentencing enhancements and allegations for committing sex crimes against multiple victims and being a habitual sex offender.  He has a prior 2005 strike conviction for lewd acts on a child, for which he had to register for life as a sex offender.

Bledsoe faces a minimum sentence of 100 years to life in state prison at his sentencing Jan. 13, 2011, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-44, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana. The victims will have an opportunity to make impact statements at the sentencing.

Jane Doe #1
Bledsoe met Jane Doe #1 approximately two weeks prior to the rape, got her phone number, and the victim later agreed to go out with the defendant on a date.

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SEX OFFENDER FOUND TWICE IN PARK CONVICTED OF VIOLATING WESTMINSTER SEX OFFENDER ORDINANCE

Tuesday, October 18th, 2011

SANTA ANA - A registered sex offender was convicted today for violating the Westminster Sex Offender Ordinance by entering a city park on two dates. Steven James Dietrich, 59, Westminster, was prosecuted by the Westminster City Attorney’s Office and pleaded guilty today to one misdemeanor count of prohibited sex offender entering city parks without written permission from Westminster Police Department (WPD) and was sentenced to 60 days in Orange County Jail and three years of informal probation.

At approximately 9:00 a.m. on July 16, 2011, Dietrich entered Leaora L. Blakey Park at 8612 Westminster Boulevard, in Westminster. He was contacted by a WPD officer. The Municipal Code and the Westminster Sex Offender Ordinance was enacted in May 2011. The Sex Offender Ordinance makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a $500 fine, for registered sex offenders to enter City parks where children regularly gather without permission from WPD. The Ordinance contained the same wording as the County Ordinance enacted in April 2011. To read the full County Ordinance, please select the April 5, 2011, press release titled “Orange County Board of Supervisors Unanimously Votes to Adopt New Law to Keep Registered Sex Offenders Out of Parks, Harbors, Beaches and Playgrounds,” under Press Releases/Media Advisories at www.orangecountyda.com.

At approximately 1:00 p.m. on Aug. 6, 2011, Dietrich entered the same park. The same WPD officer contacted the defendant.

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Ninth Circuit Opinions 04-13-11

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011

1. US vs. Apodaca, No. 09-50372 (4-12-11)(Cudahy [7th Cir.] with Wardlaw; concurrence by W. Fletcher). Lifetime supervision on one count of possession of child pornography was affirmed. However, it was affirmed grudgingly. The opinion rejects the substantive unreasonableness arguments put forth by defendant . The court did consider mitigation (indeed, the sentence of two years was a downward variance); and the court did consider distinctions between sex offenders. The 9th, and especially the concurrence by W. Fletcher, express uneasiness with the Guidelines for possession of child porn and the supervised release terms. It is simply too long and shows little distinctions between types of offenders. The opinion and concurrence provide arguments why lifetime supervised release terms may be inappropriate. However, the imposition here was not an abuse of discretion.

2. Roberts vs. Hartley, No. 10-15760 (Wallace with Kozinski and Silverman). In light of Swarthout vs. Cooke, 131 S. Ct. 859 (2011), the 9th reverses the granting of a habeas relief for misapplication of California’s “some evidence” standard for parole determinations. The Supremes in Swarthout made clear that the liberty interest created by state parole is determined by the state courts. A state liberty interest does not a federal liberty interest make. Federal review of due process is limited to procedural fairness. Here, the petitioner had procedural fairness. Federal courts can not decide whether there was a misapplication of state parole laws in order to grant habeas relief.

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United States Supreme Court Holds No Prosecution For Sex Registrants Who Traveled Before 2006

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

In Carr v. United States, the Supreme Court held that §2250 of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) does not apply to sex offenders whose interstate travel occurred before the effective date of the Act. Having reached that conclusion, the Court found that it need not address the ex post facto question raised in the case.

SORNA, which was enacted in 2006, the makes it a federal crime for any person (1) who “is required to register under [SORNA],” and (2) who “travels in interstate or foreign commerce,” to (3) “knowingly fai[l] to register or update a registration as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.” 18 U.S.C. §2250(a).

Carr holds that a sex offender may not be prosecuted for failure to register under §2250 if that person’s interstate travel occurred before SORNA’s effective date. The Court explained: “Once a person becomes subject to SORNA’s registration requirements, which can occur only after the statute’s effective date, that person can be convicted under§2250 if he thereafter travels and then fails to register.” Slip Op. at 7.

CASE CAN BE FOUND AT: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-1301.pdf

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