By Sandy . . . Is there anything more despicable than a scam? Schemes that use fear to extract money from those already living in fear go a step beyond despicable. Scams targeting people required to be listed on sex offender registries have worked their terror for longer than ten years, and they show no tendency of ending.

NARSOL warned registrants and the general public about this odious, illegal activity as soon as we became aware of it, and our efforts were eventually joined by those of law enforcement.

The scams have never stopped, but we have recently been notified of increasingly sophisticated efforts.

These scams can vary to some degree, but they will involve some variation of this: A person representing himself as someone in authority in law enforcement calls people on the registry and tells them that they are deficit in something regarding their registration, probation, or a new law; that a warrant has been or will be issued; and that he can take payment and stop the warrant.

This is what you need to know.

Law enforcement will not telephone you with notices that you are delinquent in some area of registry.

They will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER ask for money over the telephone.

The scammers will sound totally professional and knowledgeable and real, but they are NOT.

Here is what you should do: HANG UP.

However, if you don’t, if you, for whatever reason, think he might be legitimate, ask for his name and tell him that you will call him back at your registry office. Then HANG UP, call your registry office, and tell them you are calling to report a potential scam.

For more thorough information, including some law enforcement warnings, here are a few of the previously printed pieces. Some of the links within some of the pieces may no longer work.

https://www.narsol.org/2023/11/law-enforcement-paying-attention-to-sex-offender-scams/

https://www.narsol.org/2021/08/be-sure-you-know-about-sex-offender-scams/

https://www.narsol.org/2021/06/new-scam-warning-out-of-virginia/

https://www.narsol.org/2020/02/beware-of-scams-targeting-those-on-the-registry/

The post Scams targeting people listed on sex offender registries are alive and well in the U.S. first appeared on NARSOL.

By Sandy . . . A 71-year-old man was murdered on September 18 in Fremont, CA. His killer did not know him. He didn’t kill him during a robbery. He had never seen him before. Nevertheless, he set out to kill David Brimmer specifically, going to his house with a knife, attacking him when he opened the door, and chasing him as he tried to escape across the lawn and into a neighboring garage.

Why?

In 1995, Brimmer was convicted of a sexual crime. He served nine years in prison, was released, and was required to register on California’s sex offender registry. Like almost everyone who has served a sentence for the first conviction of a sexual crime, he has, from all evidence, not reoffended in 30 years.

Using the information readily available online, the murderer selected his victim. The killer said that he sought a registrant who was elderly, presumably because he would be easier to kill. However, Mr. Brimmer fought for his life. The attack lasted for what had to have been five minutes or more.

This would be horrific if it had never happened before. But it has, over and over and over again; in state after state, vigilantes have sought, found, and murdered individuals on sex offender registries. In some cases, killer knew victim prior to the murder and killed him after finding him listed on the state registry.

Horrific doesn’t even begin to be adequate. It has happened in Maine; in Washington

State (two separate incidents, four victims)*; in Nevada; in South Carolina; in Minnesota (with moose horns as the weapon); and, less than a year ago, in Pennsylvania.

It has happened before in California, four separate times, from 2007 to 2011. ** Mr. Brimmer’s murder makes five.

And those are just a few of the many that we know about, all senseless murders of individuals on registries. How many more do we not know about?

It is far past time for it to stop.

People will kill other people. But when they identify and locate their victims by means of a government-required online list, complete with address, it has gone too far.

NARSOL calls on state attorneys general to order the temporary removal of home addresses from their states’ online sex offender registries.

NARSOL further calls on state legislatures to enact legislation as soon as possible that will eliminate the online publication of home addresses of persons listed on their states’ sex offender registries.

We will never stop individuals from killing other individuals.

However, our government must stop providing roadmaps to murderous vigilantes by putting their potential victims on a list that tells the world they are dangerous—even though the vast majority are not—and providing their addresses to make the killers’ task as easy as possible.

Adocates, if you have any connection with legislators in your state, send them this or write something about it yourself.

If you know anyone with connections, tell them.

If you don’t know anyone, phone the legislative offices. Talk to the aides. Tell SOMEBODY! Tell anyone who will  listen.

SPEAK OUT; your voice may be the one that makes the difference.

* https://www.cbsnews.com/news/man-claims-child-rapist-murders/

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/12/the-vigilante-of-clallam-county/281968/

** https://www.record-bee.com/2007/12/11/murder-and-megans-law/

https://kesq.com/news/2010/01/12/second-arrest-made-in-sex-offender-murder/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2319621/Charles-Gaskins-White-supremacist-sentenced-life-murder-child-molester.html

https://ktla.com/news/man-convicted-of-murdering-sex-offender-neighbor-in-vigilante-killing-2/

The post ACTION ALERT: Protect ALL citizens; remove addresses from sex offender registries first appeared on NARSOL.

By Sandy Rozek, NARSOL Communications Director & John Dawe, NARSOL Marketing Director
When families face emergencies and are driven from their homes, they need quick and equitable access to emergency facilities. Families should be allowed to stay together during crises. However, a new bill, The Safe Shelters Act, proposed by Nancy Mace, a former South Carolina state representative who is now a U.S. congresswoman, seeks to deny this fundamental right to families with a member on a state sex offense registry. “Women and children deserve safety,“ she has said in defense of the bill. While protecting vulnerable populations is a goal we all share, this bill fails to achieve that and instead imposes unnecessary harm.

About the Safe Shelters Act

Mace’s legislation, the Safe Shelters Act, states: “Except for the purpose of seeking information on designated shelters, a covered sex offender may not enter or use the services of an undesignated shelter.”

Under the proposed bill, “designated shelters,” as determined by FEMA, would likely include federal buildings or prisons deemed suitable for registrants by the General Services Administration. This bill is cruel and unfairly targets registrants with families, particularly those with small children. Non-registered spouses depend on their partners for help and support during emergencies, and registered single parents would be made to choose between their children’s safety and forced separation. We believe that requiring families to separate during a crisis is contemptible.

The following signers have endorsed this opinion-editorial:

• Brenda Jones, Executive Director National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL)
• Robin Vander Wall, Chair, NARSOLJohn DawejohndEdit Profile
• James Ward, NARSOL representative, Alabama
• Audrey Kelly, NARSOL representative, Alaska
• Patricia Borden, Director, Arizonans for Rational Sex Offense Laws
• Susan Walker, Executive Director, Coalition for Sex Offense Restoration, Colorado
• Cindy Prizio, President, One Standard of Justice, Connecticut
• Margaret Hawkins, President, Delaware Advocates for Rational Sexual Offense Laws
• Gail Colletta, President, Florida Action Committee, Inc.
• Waleisha Wilson, Chair, Restore Georgia
• Adele Nicholas, Executive Director, Illinois Voices
• Michael Harris, Executive Director, Indiana Voices
• Amanda ******, Executive Director, Iowans Unafraid
• Teresa Butell, NARSOL representative, Kansas Coalition United Against Registry
• Jeff Goetz, NARSOL representative, Kentucky 
• B.V. Jones, Executive Director, Maryland Families Advocating for Intelligent Registries
• Kathie Gourlay, NARSOL representative, Michigan
• Tim P, NARSOL representative, Sex Offense Reform Specialist. ACLU of Michigan
• Timothy Davich, NARSOL representative, Minnesota for Our Rights
• Ken Roberts, NARSOL Gatekeeper, Mississippi
• Erik McInnis, NARSOL representative, Missouri
• Kevin Nunez, NARSOL representative, New Jersey
• Larry Neeley, NARSOL representative, New Mexico
• Dwayne Daughtry, Executive Director, North Carolina RSOL
• Justin Hillman, NARSOL representative, North and South Dakota
• T. Jackson, NARSOL Representative, Ohio RSOL
• Mary Krehbiel, NARSOL representative, Oklahoma RSOL
• Lori Hamilton, Executive Director, OK Voices, Inc.
• Dr. David Mayer, Chair, Oregon Voices
• John Dawe, Managing Director, Pennsylvania Assoc. For Rational Sexual Offense Laws
• Don Thurber, Executive Director, South Carolina RSOL
• W.G. Crump, NARSOL representative, Tennessee
• Mary Sue Molnar, Executive Director, Texas Voices for Reason and Justice
• Timothy R. Burgess, Executive Director, Vermont Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants
• JP Welch, Board member, Safer Virginia
• Philip Kaso, Executive Director, West Virginians for Rational Sexual Offense Laws 
• Robert Thibault, NARSOL representative, Wisconsin
• Amber Vlangas, Executive Director, Restorative Action Alliance New York 
• Danell Puglisi-Knutson, Board member, SHINE-VOICES
• Shawn Barrera-Leaf, United Voices for Sex Offense Reform (UV4SOR) Michigan
• Janice Bellucci, Executive Director, ACSOL

The post ACT NOW: The Safe Shelters Act: Unsafe, Unjust, and Cruel first appeared on NARSOL.