News story from 2005 reminds us that the bill that increased time level 1s were forced to register was penned by corrupt criminal politician Dean Skelos

Don't ever forget that Laura Ahearn's biggest allies over the years later fell from grace for corruption, like Dean Skelos did.

http://liherald.com/stories/Reforming-Megans-LawHearing-held-to-determine-how-landmark-legislation-can-be-strengthened,10348

Reforming Megan's LawHearing held to determine how landmark legislation can be strengthened
Posted June 2, 2005
By Nicole Falco

Ten years old, when Russillo became his neighbor, the boy and his family never could have known that Russillo had been convicted on sexual abuse charges in 1980, because Megan's Law, which requires convicted sex offenders to register with law enforcement, didn't exist. So they never could have known that Russillo was "grooming" the boy to be his next victim.
      In 2003, Russillo was convicted on two counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of endangering the welfare of a child. After a four-week trial, during which the boy testified for two days, Russillo was not found guilty of the more serious charges he faced, including sodomy, that would have carried a harsher sentence. On Tuesday, Russillo was released from jail and expected to return to his Suffolk County home, just two doors down from the boy he molested.
      "I don't understand why [he] has so many rights, and kids like me don't," the boy said at a hearing last Thursday at Valley Stream North High School to solicit the community's input on possible ways to bolster Megan's Law. "I don't wish what happened to me to happen to any other kid. ... Try hard to get these laws passed."
      Coming up on the 10-year anniversary of Megan's Law - named for 7-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was sexually assaulted and murdered by her neighbor in July 1994 - the state Senate Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction is holding a series of public hearings to gather information, and a bill to strengthen the current law is expected to be introduced in the Senate this month. Sen. Dean G. Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), the author of the current law, and Sen. Michael Nozzolio (R-Fayette), the committee chairman, presided over the most recent hearings in Valley Stream. The first hearings were held in Albany earlier this month, and a third session will take place in Brooklyn.
      "This is, in my opinion, the most critical reform that we can pass," Skelos said. "The passing of a law to protect you, protect our community - that's the principal responsibility of government."
      The Megan's Law Reform Act of 2005 will encompass a variety of issues, including lifetime registration of all convicted sex offenders (low- and mid-level offenders currently register for 10 years), mandatory community notification, civil confinement of sexually violent predators, global-positioning-system tracking and the posting of information for all three levels of registered sex offenders on the Department of Criminal Justice Services Web site.
      "Even if [Russillo] had been registered 20 years prior, he would have only been registered for 10 years," the boy's mother testified. "A day doesn't go by that I don't think to myself, How could I let this happen? Why didn't I see it?"
      Of the 21,000 registered sex offenders in New York state, more than 400 live in Nassau County, and nearly 800 in Suffolk County. By year's end, 3,300 statewide will no longer be included on the registry, having fulfilled their 10-year obligation. Russillo is not automatically a high- or third-level offender. He is entitled to a hearing under the current law.
      The boy and his mother were two of the 10 people who testified before the committee, which was joined by other local politicians. A second victim testified, as did Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law; Dr. Marc Bernstein, Valley Stream high school superintendent; Cynthia Scott, executive director of the Coalition on Child Abuse and Neglect; and various law enforcement officials.
      The second victim, a young woman, said she was just 15 when she and three others were sexually abused by a youth counselor at her church. Matthew Maiello, now 31, who worked at East Meadow's St. Raphael Roman Catholic Church, pleaded guilty to third-degree rape and three counts of second-degree sodomy. He spent two years in jail, and is now living in upstate New York after being released in March.
      "It's ridiculous how a person who sexually abuses children can earn good time in jail," the young woman said. "I think it's the job of [lawmakers] to put forth these laws to be proactive instead of reactive."
      Ahearn called Megan's Law an effective tool, and hopes that it can be strengthened to include lifetime registration and stricter probation, and to require sex offenders who plead to the lesser charge of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, to register. She also called for the statute of limitations to be abolished.
      "A society can be measured by how well we protect our children," Ahearn said. "Protecting even one child is all it takes to ensure that a law is effective."
      Kenneth Rau, chief of detectives in Suffolk County, raised many of the same points as Ahearn. "It's very difficult to sit down with a parent and say what happened to your child is not important enough," he said of those instances where offenders are convicted of lesser crimes or serve minimal time.
      Bernstein called for a uniform system of notification for school districts, and added that sex offenders shouldn't be allowed to live within 1,000 feet of schools and other places where kids congregate.
      Scott and Nassau County Police Department Lt. John Allen called for educational programs in schools and communities. John Fowle, supervisor of the Special Victims Unit of the Nassau County Department of Probation, suggested lifetime parole and requiring offenders to register with the Department of Motor Vehicles. And Joy Watson, Sex Offense and Domestic Violence Bureau chief for the Nassau County district attorney's office, asked that youthful offenders not be exempt from the law.
      After hearing all of the testimony, Skelos said, "Obviously, changing some of the penal sections, like endangering the welfare of a child, came up repeatedly. Also, the theme of education - giving parents and kids the tools to protect themselves - that came out really clear."

Suffolk County settles lawsuit for James Burke's porn stash beating

I hope Suffolk doesn't go bankrupt just yet, there are a couple more lawsuits they need to settle, like that one with Derek Logue versus Ahearn's group.

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/loeb-settlement-burke-assault-1.16478078

Suffolk agrees to settle Christopher Loeb’s lawsuit, officials say
The county admits no wrongdoing in connection with Christopher Loeb’s 2012 beating by former Chief James Burke.

By Nicole Fuller
nicole.fuller@newsday.com  @NicoleFuller
Updated February 1, 2018 7:48 PM

Suffolk County has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a federal lawsuit brought by Christopher Loeb, whose beating by Suffolk Police Chief James Burke led to the chief’s imprisonment and the indictment of District Attorney Thomas Spota, county officials said Thursday.

Under the terms of the agreement, the county admits no wrongdoing and is released from additional liability in connection with Loeb’s 2012 beating inside a police precinct, Suffolk County Attorney Dennis Brown said in an interview.

“In this particular case, we have an admission from the perpetrator of wrongdoing, so we don’t have a lot of defenses,” Brown said, adding that Burke is not covered under the settlement and could still be held liable.

“His acts, even though he was the chief of police at the time, were not something that the county condones nor is it something that occurred within the scope of his employment.”

The county legislature will have to vote to approve the settlement.

Loeb, 31, of Mount Sinai, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Bruce Barket, a Garden City-based attorney representing Loeb, said he would not comment on the settlement until the legislature gives its final approval.

“But I will note that there is no settlement with Burke and we intend to pursue our case against him vigorously,” Barket said. “He is separately liable for the damages he caused and punitive damages, which are certainly appropriate in this case.”

Barket said Loeb, who is a recovering heroin addict, is currently “doing well and working on his health.”

Burke’s attorney, John Meringolo of Manhattan, declined to comment.

The case began when Loeb was arrested on Dec. 14, 2012, after stealing a duffel bag containing a gun belt, ammunition, sex toys and pornography from Burke’s unmarked police SUV in St. James. In 2015, Loeb filed a lawsuit in federal court charging the county, Burke and six other officers with violating his civil rights after he accused the former chief of assaulting him.

Loeb’s beating allegations sparked a federal probe that led to Burke’s indictment and arrest in December 2015. Burke pleaded guilty to violating Loeb’s civil rights in February 2016 after admitting to assaulting Loeb and then orchestrating a departmental cover-up. He is currently serving a 46-month prison sentence.

Burke’s federal probe led to last year’s federal indictment of Spota and top aide Christopher McPartland on charges they were involved in the cover-up. Both Spota and McPartland pleaded not guilty and were released on bail. Spota retired days after he was indicted.

The county considered several factors in deciding to settle, Brown said, including attorneys’ fees and the unpredictability of a possible jury award.

“We’re looking at years of litigation, very significant litigation costs; there are multiple attorneys that the county is paying for various named defendants,” Brown said. “If we were not successful in the lawsuit, the plaintiff’s attorney would also be entitled to attorney’s fees, so we could be looking at attorneys’ fees of a million dollars or more.”

Loeb had pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon in the original case involving the theft from Burke’s vehicle, but in light of Burke’s guilty plea, a state Supreme Court justice vacated the plea after the special prosecutor who was appointed in the case agreed with Loeb’s attorney that the plea was unjustly coerced and tainted by police perjury.

Loeb entered the plea after a pretrial hearing in which several Suffolk officers and detectives testified under oath that they didn’t see Burke beat Loeb.

But when the plea was vacated, the original indictment, which included stealing property and other charges, was reinstated. Loeb again pleaded not guilty to those charges, which included a count of breaking into Burke’s police vehicle and stealing a duffel bag.

A defense motion to dismiss the indictment was later granted.

DuWayne Gregory (D-Copiague), presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature, said he would vote for the settlement because going to trial could “run the risk” of a higher cash award.

“It’s frustrating that the taxpayers of Suffolk County have to pay for the egregious actions of any individual that works for the county,” Gregory said.

If approved, the settlement will be paid by floating a bond. The county’s 2 percent interest rate over five years on a $1.5 million bond will total $91,200, said county spokesman Jason Elan.

Since being released from prison on that case last January after being sentenced to three years, Loeb has gotten into trouble with the law, including a February 2016 argument with his mother, Jane Loeb, that resulted in a harassment charge after authorities said he hit her.

Loeb was arrested in August 2017 and charged with violating an order of protection against his former girlfriend, Suffolk police said.

And last November, Loeb was arrested on charges in connection with the break-in of a car, theft of a purse and credit cards and theft of his mother’s car, police said. He was charged with fourth-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, possession of a hypodermic instrument and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

He was released on personal recognizance from the Suffolk jail in Riverhead on Jan. 8 after a judge reduced his bail. The charges are pending.

Legis. Robert Trotta (R-Fort Salogna) said County Executive Steve Bellone should pay the settlement. Trotta said he would “absolutely not” vote to float a bond to pay it.

“Steve Bellone violated the trust of every taxpayer by hiring and supporting Jim Burke despite his history of misconduct. Now the taxpayers of Suffolk County will pay yet again for another Bellone blunder.”

Newsday has reported that Bellone was warned in an anonymous letter about issues with Burke, but got assurances of his character from Spota.

Elan, in response, said: “It is the height of hypocrisy coming from a man who has been accused multiple times of workplace violence.”