Is Parents For Megan's Law a misandrist organization? One child victim advocate seems to think so.

It isn't often you see those who identify as child victim advocates duking it out. The accusations here are serious, but considering PFML's treatment of registered citizens over the years, who are mostly men, I don't doubt the claim made here.

Here is a bio of the accuser, Greg Fischer:

https://sites.google.com/site/voteforgregus/biography

Human Interest:

            My children Clark (age 5 ½) and Anna (age 3) were ABDUCTED on Sept 17 2007 (when Greg was running for Riverhead Councilman – the next day).  The children were returned on October 1, 2009 (two years later);  since then Greg  has been a national spokesperson on child abduction issues --- particulary for the national group “VOICE FOR THE CHILDREN” (based out of Florida).

Who better to discuss one victim advocate than another victim advocate, eh?

http://riverheadlocal.com/2011/11/01/fischer-i-will-not-back-down/

Fischer: I will not back down
by Denise Civiletti Nov 1, 2011, 1:32 pm

Submitted in response to the Oct. 29 article “Crime victims advocate brings harassment charge against supervisor candidate“

To the Editor:

In the face of injustice I will not back down! It is not just that my kids were hurt it is that other citizen’s kids (and grandkids) were and STILL ARE being hurt. If a government funded organization is not doing their job then that needs to be exposed. Below is one of many letters I have sent out to government to fix problems. And, YES, being a whistleblower often means there will reprisal and retribution against you.

At the core: 1.) Suffolk County needs a Victims Center and a Megan’s Law Center that will take effective action upon all men’s reports. 2.) The laws Legislator Romaine and I have been attempting to pass to stop child concealment and abduction must be passed ASAP. 3.) The police must immediately stop refusing to honor the Federal laws on reporting into the NCIC system.

Question: With the same set of facts, if it were YOUR kids or grandkids were harmed, guess what I would do? Answer: I would be there to defend you and the children! I will not back down from stopping child abuse, even when perpetrated with (or in spite of) government funds. If the politicians cannot create a mechanism to defend innocent children then they are incapable of defending any of us and they need to be removed from office ASAP!

I will not ignore your government problems or try to make you feel better living with those problems; I will act to fix those problems!
If you have any questions for me I can be found on FACEBOOK at Vote For Greg.
With a hope and a prayer that what has happened to my children STOPS here,

Greg Fischer

With apology for the loss of logo and formatting …… however, please be warned that this is my opinion and contains upsetting material …
Political Patriot Newspapers
Government Oversight and Investigative Journalism 
P.O. Box 285, Calverton, New York 11933-0285, Voice 631-727-9637, Fax 631-727-9638
________________________________________________
October 5, 2011
Re: To immediately source and fund appropriate services for male crime victims and to immediately reduce funding the Suffolk Crime Victims Center and Suffolk Parents for Megan’s Law all for reasons of “Anti-Male Bias” and/or other failure and refusal to provide services.
Dear Legislator,

Why were two innocent children (ages 8 months and 3 years, who were being concealed by a bona fide child rapist and an absconding parent), and their innocent left-behind-parent, refused services/protections (de facto) by the Suffolk County funded/supported Crime Victims Center and Suffolk Parents for Megan’s Law?

What I am about to divulge here is shocking; however it is true, opinion, and it contains my personal statement of experience and opinion about Anti-Male Bias demonstrated by the Suffolk Crime Victims Center (CVC) and Suffolk Parents for Megan’s Law (collectively “CVC/PFML”) — the worst part of course is while my children were abducted, my children and I were denied service by CVC/PFML and we are still exiled to date from those county funded/supported services. This letter is to suggest that alternative and equal male sensitive services be sourced and public funding be shifted to the appropriate services for male victims.

INTRODUCTION:

Suffolk County does not seem to have adequate victim services for male victims and CVC/PFML was ill equipped to fill the need. Yet the legislature seems to rely upon CVC/PFML as a one-stop-shop for all victims — male or female. In my personal experience, CVC/PFML seemed unwilling to promote male victim services and their importance for fathers and their children — they do not even lobby for such services for fathers and their children. Instead, in my opinion, CVC/PFML seems to be sensitive only to women’s issues; namely, in my exposure to CVC/PFML I sensed an anti-male bias that I cannot say I have ever felt from most other “victims” services agency. Ultimately, being denied services by CVC/PFML seems to have helped thwart legally required intervention, delayed abduction retrieval, postponed rehabilitation/reunification results, and ultimately had the net consequence of putting my children at risk for a longer period of time than might have been otherwise.

THE QUANDRY:

In the matter of my children and me, I believe CVC/PFML procedure, staff training, services and administration had the consequence of keeping my children in the continuing risk of the very dangers I expected to protect them from —- child abuse/neglect, including but not limited to child sexual abuse. I believe that CVC/PFML used the justification that the abducted children “were with the mother” even though the condition in controversy was unlawful (thus making the children and the father crime victims); the assertion is a demonstration of acute gender bias de facto in that statement claiming motherhood trumps law. Although this situation of a publicly funded/supported institution executing bias, wastefulness, and suborning/supporting of unlawful activities (some of those activities causing huge costs to Suffolk County taxpayers), and may be ultimately best served by the oversight of a Suffolk County Inspector General (SC-IG), it is proper for the Legislature to also be the recipient of this information that constitutes a citizen complaint. As well CVC/PFML is the recipient of Federal money, some indirectly, and any activity, or agency, or recipient that wastes Federal money is subject to 42 U.S.C. § 1320. Similarly, in this matter as the writer, I must properly be labeled a “whistleblower” and granted all local, state and Federal protections properly granted to whistleblowers.

MY EXPERIENCE:

Although I have heard of stories where other men have been discriminated against (including stories I have heard as a person in the media), this letter is not hearsay but it is to tell my personal story of bias and exile form the services CVC/PFML was referred to provide by the Suffolk County Legislature to aid me in the recovery and protection of my children and to serve me as a citizen/taxpayer of Suffolk who acutely required victims protection/rehabilitation services.

As this legislature is well aware, my children were parentally concealed/absconded/abducted (herein “abduction”) in September 2007. Over a period of 25 months and they were shuttled between states and mostly in unknown locations. The concealment was mostly under conditions that were dangerous and neglectful to the children — for example, in captivity, the children suffered severe dental neglect. Similarly, for a significant portion of the time the children were housed in a mobile home with a documented and bona fide child rapist. In October 2009, a Suffolk County court stated that the children were taken illegally and ordered the children returned.

Over the course the abduction, I attended a public hearing on “bias” which was proximal to the murder of Marcello Lucero. At my testimony in front of one of those hearings, Legislator Gregory suggested that I contact CVC/PFML for victim’s services and other help. I did as he suggested. I am certain that Legislator Gregory would never expect that my children and I would come to receive the resistance to services, and I would receive the “bias” (and eventual neglect/abuse and exile) related to the actions that CVC/PFML did demonstrate.

It was completely shocking to me that CVC’s affiliate and co-provider PFML (Parents for Megan’s Law), an organization that I thought was supposed to help PROTECT children from the risk of sexual abuse and other harm, was so caviler/dismissive about the risk to, neglect of, and abuse of my innocent children. My feelings at the time were that it was as if CVC/PFML was telling me something similar to the children were the property of the mother and she could do with them as she might choose. I have heard women in my predicament (in other states) say the same thing when children were paternally abducted and I view that bias equally shocking — I view all child concealment as URGENT and dangerous to children and left-behind-parents.

What occurred with CVC/PFML was nightmarish in that I was never given any help or referrals. The Federal law states that missing/concealed children MUST immediately (or within 2 hours) be entered into the NCIC federal database. Part of my problem was that Riverhead Police (under the supervision of Philip Cardinale, supervisor and police commissioner) were refusing to make the legally required entry. CVC/PFML refused to help with that problem as well. The law further states that there is to be NO INVESTIGATION or delay of any kind (and the report can be edited or closed later). Instead of receiving help, CVC/PFML also began a process of scrutinizing me and I had to provide the ALL of my court ordered forensics and other court information (which I did). Shortly after providing them the forensics showing my children was with a bona fide child rapist, CVC/PFML stopped returning my calls.

What I came to believe is that, not only did CVC/PFML assist in the breaking of the Federal law requiring immediate NCIC, and acting out what the law specifically forbade, but CVC/PFML was practicing “front end diversion” because as a completely innocent male victim I was toxic to their biased (pro-female/anti-male) agenda — and thus the implementation of their agenda became more acute. In my opinion, CVC/PFML (and another Suffolk Victims Services agency) cultivates female victim’s services by treating female victims with priority and urgency — while obviously trading off and ignoring equal justice protections.

Throughout the delays by CVC/PFML my children were being harmed and I was being harmed as well by the stress of knowing my children were being harmed and suffering. Since my children were at risk and being harmed TIME WAS OF THE ESSENCE yet CVC/PFML did not treat the situation with either urgency or advocacy. In my opinion, the response of CVC/PFML was disgraceful and harmful to my children and me. The CVC/PFML refused to aid in being the advocate/intermediary to assist my children before the legislature and county agencies — I believe Legislator Gregory expected CVC/PFML provide comprehensive victims services which would include but not be limited to unbiased advocacy and government process facilitation.

After I provided all the written information and court documents I started to get ignored. Eventually they ceased contact with me without reason or warning. Then I was informed by a person purporting to be the Chairmen of the Board of CVC/PFML that I would NEVER be provided services by CVC/PFML.

In my children’s case, they have been re-concealed/re-abducted many times since their original 25 month ordeal. Why are they (and I, as their father) exiled form the public/semi-public services of CVC/PFML? Why am I, as one who suffers from PTSD (an ADA defined disability requiring reasonable accommodation) in part as a result of the abduction ordeal, being exiled/denied from victim’s services?

In my opinion, the Legislature should not make any further referrals to CVC/PFML or allow them any funding/support until there is an investigation of this matter and their patterns and practices; the legislature has a duty to prevent wastefulness of tax funds and to prevent the type of harm I have experienced.

CONCLUSION:

I believe that Suffolk County funding needs to be adjusted/allocated/shifted so that services can be delivered which allow male victims to receive victim services from concerned male victim service providers; this would be in the exact same way that female victims commonly receive services from female victim service providers. I believe that the management of said male victim services organizations need also to appropriately trained to address male problems —- in my opinion, and based on my experience, CVC/PFML is NOT sensitive to the complex issues of male victims especially as related to female on male violence/aggression in its various forms. I believe that instead, CVC/PFML tends to demonize men and ignore or significantly chill awareness of female on male violence/aggression in its various forms. Appropriate services for male victims must be provided immediately to comply with US & NYS Constitution equal protection clauses.

Respectfully, I ask that each and every member of the Suffolk County Legislature take a stand against anti-male bias — especially when that bias seems to be institutionalized and aided by public monies and/or referrals.

Thank you in advance for your pro-constitutional and pro-equality stand. Similarly, thank you for your socially and fiscally responsible actions to promote a more just society.

Very truly yours,
Greg Fischer, Publisher & Reporter
Political Patriot Newspapers, Government Oversight and Investigative Journalism 
(Returning 2012)

A Wild Fearmonger appears: So now PFML and Steve Bellone wants us to freak out over Pokemon Go

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past two decades, at some point you've heard of Pokemon. You may have heard of this new app called "Pokemon Go," which uses "augmented reality" to search for those little critters in the real world.

Yes, there was a random incident where folks were getting robbed at a spot where the Pokemon appears (you are an idiot if you are wandering around secluded locations late at night), so now Team Fearmonger warns to prepare for trouble and make it double.

What kind of Pokemon would you find at the Suffolk County Legislative/ PFML region? How about Clefucktards, Machumps, Pidgidiots, and 'Tardmanders.

Seriously, I think whoever came up with this deserves a swift kick in the Pokeballs. We need to erRATICATE all this fearmongering. (Okay okay, I'll stop with the Pokemon puns.)

http://longisland.news12.com/news/officials-pok%C3%A9mon-go-could-be-used-to-lure-crime-victims-1.12035312

Officials: 'Pokemon Go' could be used to lure crime victims
Updated July 12, 2016 5:24 PM
3 Comments+-

Parents for Megan's Law and Suffolk County officials met Tuesday in an effort to warn parents about the dangers behind the virtual scavenger hunt app. (7/12/16)

Parents for Megan's Law and Suffolk County officials met Tuesday in an effort to warn parents about the dangers behind the virtual scavenger hunt app.

They say an option in the app allows users to "lure" people to a location to get points in the game.

Suffolk Police Commissioner Tim Sini says criminals will see the option as an opportunity.

"They could be lying in the wait to do a robbery, or it could be worse in terms of a sexual predator situation," says Sini.

Suffolk Executive Steve Bellone is calling on the Pokemon company to check its users against those on the E-Stop registry – the online registry of sex offender emails and social media accounts.

Another issue that has been raised is the app automatically granting full access to Google accounts. The app requires a Gmail account to sign in.

A spokesman for Pokemon Go issued a statement saying once they became aware of what they call an "error," they began working on a fix to only request basic google profile information.

The company had "no information to share" on the sex offender concerns.

One of PFML's biggest legislative supporters openly offers his support to vigilante thugs

This is Brigitte Harris, a deranged psychopath who murdered and mutilated her own father. According to SILive, "Ms. Harris dubbed herself "XXLadyVengeanceXX" on her MySpace page, which she said was a reference to an ultraviolent South Korean film that follows a wrathful woman who abducts a man who has killed several children and takes him to an abandoned school, where she ties him to a chair and chokes him with a tie." Her father was found in her apartment handcuffed and beaten, with his genitals cut off and a towel stuffed in his mouth. She even told the jury she researched Lorenna Bobbitt. 

In court, this animal used the abuse excuse as a defense in court, which legal scholar Alan Dershowitz accurately describes as a "lawless invitation to vigilantism." Sure enough, it worked, as she was convicted only of "second degree manslaughter," and while the judge gave hr a 5-15 year prison term, Harris got out after three. To reiterate, Harris got three years for murdering and mutilating her own father!

This is US Senator Charles E. Schumer, the second cousin once removed of TV personality Amy Schumer. Schumer is one of PFML's biggest financial contributors, giving at least $50,000 to Ahearn's group. Schumer was also a big supporter of Brigitte Harris so I find his support of vigilantes disturbing. Just think, this is the same guy who called a flight attendant a "bitch" after she told him to turn off his cell phone before takeoff (a federal regulation, you know), and apparently, other flight attendants have had similar issues with him. 

It seems Schumer has a thing for vigilante scumbags, first Brigitte Harris, now Laura Ahearn and company. 

PFML's list of contributors proudly includes at least $50k from convicted criminal Dean Skelos

If I was Laura Ahearn, I'd send that fifty grand or so back to convicted criminal Dean Skelos. It is equally interesting the biggest contributors are politicians; in fact, only three of the 15 listed donors of $25k+ are businesses.

(Editor's note: It seems PFML removed the contributor's list but not before I screenshot it. Nice try, Laura!)

https://www.parentsformeganslaw.org/public/sponsors.html

You can see the full list on the Web Archive:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160412215206/http://www.parentsformeganslaw.org/public/sponsors.html

Sponsors And Special Thanks

LEADERS  - Donations and Grants

$50,000 +
United States Senator Charles E. Schumer
United States Congressman Timothy H. Bishop 
United States Congressman Steve J. Israel 
United States Congressman Peter King   

New York State Senator Dean G. Skelos    
New York State Senator John J. Flanagan
New York State Senator Lee M. Zeldin
CA Technologies
Gary Melius, Oheka Castle  
District Attorney Thomas J. Spota 
Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent F. De Marco

INVESTORS - Donations and Grants

$25,000 - $49,000
New York Senator Charles Fushillo  
New York State Senator Kemp Hannon  
New York State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle 
Walmart  

BENEFACTORS - Donations and Grants

$5,000 – $25,000 
BBD - Business By Design - Web and Print Design 
Caffe Amici  

Vehicle Tracking Solutions - John Cunningham 
www.vehicletracking.com  'We Help You Drive Productivity' 

CONTRIBUTOR - Donations and Grants

$1,500 – $5,000 
Alpha Group
Andrew L. Weitz & Associates, P.C.
Baiting Hollow Country Club
Best Buy
Borgata Hotel & Spa - Atlantic City
Coram Fire Department
Kozy Shack
Giove Funeral Home 
Lindy’s Transportation  
Park Strategies, Senator Alfonse D’Amato  
Poker Player's Alliance
Selden Florist  
Sivan Properties
Specialties Galore - Holbrook, NY
Starbucks
Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association   
Villa Lombardi’s 
West Lake Inn, Patchogue, NY
Whole Foods Market
Michael C. Williams, C.P.A., P.C.  
Thomas Yllanes  

SUPPORTERS

$500 - $1,500 
Association of Municipal Employees - Suffolk County, NY 
Atlantis Marine World 
Cablevision
Coca Cola   
Cooperage Inn - Baiting Hollow, NY
Danford's Restaurant and Catering - Port Jefferson, NY 
Dick's Sporting Goods 
Disc Graphics, Hauppauge, NY   
Electric Printing, Bohemia, NY   
Entenmann’s 
Empire State Carpenters Local Union 7   
Entenmann’s 
Estey & Bomberger, LLP
Fairy Tale Productions - Nesconset, NY
Fat Cat Graphics, Center Moriches, NY   
Fink's Country Farm - Riverhead, NY
Harrah's Hotel and Casino - Atlantic City
HealthPlex
Helzberg Diamonds - Lake Grove, NY
Home Depot
Ideal Image - Hauppauge, NY 
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 25   
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 138, 138A, 138B and 138C 
J & B Restaurant Partners - Ronkonkoma, NY
Kerri's Kandies - Coram, NY
Lowe's Home Improvements  - Stony Brook, NY
McDonald's - TriMac, Hauppauge, NY
Nassau County Detectives Association 
New York Jets
New York Giants
New York Islanders
New York Mets
New York State Association of Chiefs of Police
New York State Fraternal Order of Police  
News 12 Long Island
North Shore Therapeutic Spa and Wellness Center - East Setauket, NY
Pace's Steak House - Port Jefferson, NY
Pepsico   
Peter Kramer 
Plumbers Local Union 200     
Rainbow Media Holdings
Rita's Italian Ices - Medford, NY
R&J Graphics, Farmingdale, NY   
Ralph's Italian Ices   
Rock Doves Music
Ruvo Restaurant - Port Jefferson, NY
Sand Castle Photography
St. Gerard Printing - Port Jefferson Stattion, NY
Southwest Airlines - Cheryl Swanson
Sports Illustrated
Suffolk County Democratic Committee   
Suffolk County Police Athletic League   
Sunstar
Tumbling Dice
USPA Nationwide Security, Michael Evans
WBAB and WBLI Radio
While You Wait Copy Center, Centereach, NY

FRIENDS

Fredrick P. Beinlein, CSCS, Certified Personal Trainer
Costco - Holbrook, NY
Mohegan Sun - CT
Swan Lake Golf Club - Shirley, NY
Suffolk County Deputy Sheriff's PBA
Touch of Class Car Wash & Detail Center - St. James, NY

SPECIAL THANKS TO

Our Dedicated Volunteers Who Give Their Gift Of Time 

(Full page screen shot because they think they could delete it). 

Suffolk County extends the PFML contact in emergency session after PFML's insurance company deemed them a major liability

This was printed in Newsday and since I don't have a subscription, it can't be read online. Luckily, a copy was sent for me to share it. I'm not surprised this crooked contract was renewed, but I was shocked to find out why Ahearn needed more money. Apparently, they are such a liability, their insurance rates increased more than five times over.

If Laura Ahearn and her goons were really about helping victims why would they take part in creating victims? Why would they deny help to victims coming to them seeking help? Having these escorted out of the building... Perhaps they cherry pick which victims and children they will help? Why would Parents for Megan's Law take $25,000 from the victims fund to support their hefty insurance increase? Is it the tax payers fault this groups illegal actions have made them such a high risk? Perhaps most important - Why does a corrupt Suffolk County legislature continue to support and stand by this groups illegal behavior in violation of New York State Law? Perhaps Steve Bellone thinks he can keep distributing tax payer money dishonestly to his friends because he thinks all eyes are on his X-pal DA Spota and no one will notice his dirty deeds??? Parents for Megan's Law EXPOSED 

Pols back sex-offender monitoring program

By Rick Brand

From Newsday, 6/1/16 print edition

The Suffolk Legislature approved an emergency resolution last night to indemnify and defend the nonprofit Crime Victims Center Incorporated in its work doing in-home verification of sex offenders’ residences. 

Lawmakers approved the resolution on a 16-2 vote. During an hour-long debate, several Republicans sought unsuccessfully to table the measure at least partially because Suffolk Police Commissioner Timothy Sini had not taken a position on the issue.

Legislator Kate Browning (WF-Shirley) left the meeting to speak about the resolution by phone with Sini, who she said told her he supported it.

County Executive Steve Bellone issued a certificate of necessity to permit an immediate vote after the center’s insurers had agreed only to extend its liability coverage until June 7 in the face of two lawsuits brought against the county and the nonprofit over his program to verify residences of sex offenders listed on a state registry.

“We’re not going to abandon the most successful program to monitor sex offenders in the country,” said Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) during the debate.

The center, formerly known as Parents for Megan’s Law, had a $2.5 million contract with the Suffolk Police Department for the past three years to verify sex offenders’ addresses as well as monitor social media and conduct education programs under Suffolk’s Community Protection Act.

The contract expired April 30, but the county has budgeted $768,000 for a contract extension through year’s end. County Attorney Dennis Brown said a new agreement, which includes County legal coverage for the “narrow scope” of its verification duties, should be complete within a few days.

Several Republicans said because agreement details were not available, they feared indemnification could cost taxpayers millions in court verdicts for personnel not trained or supervised by the county.

“It’s a very bad idea to put taxpayers on the hook for people we don’t even know,” said Legislator Robert Trotta (R-Fort Salonga), himself a former Suffolk police detective. He said police could take over the job.

In the past, Suffolk County officials have been reluctant to indemnify other nonprofit groups with contracts, such as the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, because of the potential exposure to damages in a lawsuit. However, Brown said, the county in the past has provided similar coverage in some cases, including to doctors who worked in county health centers, and those working at the Vanderbilt and County Maritime museums.

Laura Ahearn, the center’s executive director, said insurance costs had climbed from $4500 a year to $25,000 annually before the insurer threatened to stop covering the center’s work for County.

Dean Skelos, the legislator responsible for doubling registration time for NY's level 1 registrants, gets 5 Years in Prison for Corruption

This is the guy who first championed the doubling of the registration of Level 1 registrants in NY state from 10 years to 20 years. He's not alone in the corruption scandal.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/13/nyregion/dean-skelos-is-sentenced-to-5-years-in-prison-in-corruption-case.html

Dean Skelos Is Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison in Corruption Case
By BENJAMIN WEISER and VIVIAN YEEMAY 12, 2016

Dean G. Skelos, the once powerful Republican majority leader of the New York State Senate who was convicted with his son in December on federal corruption charges, was sentenced on Thursday to five years in prison.

The sentencing of Mr. Skelos was the second instance in 10 days in which a former senior New York lawmaker was sent to prison for abusing his office. It concluded an extraordinary chapter during which two trials, held a block apart at almost the same time last year, exposed a culture of kickbacks, secret deals and nepotism in the State Capitol in Albany.

But while the crimes and the 12-year prison term of Sheldon Silver, the former Democratic speaker of the State Assembly, exceeded those of Mr. Skelos and his son, Adam B. Skelos, the Skeloses’ trial stood out for the gritty, unvarnished look it offered of the personal and political dealings of a family immersed in Albany’s back channels.

The evidence against the Skeloses, who were convicted of bribery, extortion and conspiracy, laid bare schemes that were remarkable for both their brazenness and their familial motivation: The father seemed willing to do anything for his son.

Before he was sentenced, Dean Skelos asked the judge in the case, Kimba M. Wood of Federal District Court in Manhattan, to show mercy to his son. “Somehow I let things go off the rails, and for that I apologize to Adam,” Mr. Skelos said. “I love Adam and pray that we have better days together.” Adam Skelos was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.

The former senator also expressed remorse for his actions. “Somewhere along the way,” he said, “my judgment became clouded.”

The sentencings of Mr. Skelos and Mr. Silver made them the latest in an almost unending parade of disgraced New York lawmakers — elected officials tempted by greed and brought down by prosecutors, most notably Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan.

Mr. Bharara, whose office is one of several agencies investigating possible wrongdoing connected to the administrations of Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, released a statement on Thursday that took a barely veiled swipe at Mr. Cuomo’s decision in 2014 to disband an anticorruption panel, the Moreland Commission, less than a year after he impaneled it.

The cases involving Mr. Skelos and Mr. Silver, Mr. Bharara said, “show — and history teaches — that the most effective corruption investigations are those that are truly independent and not in danger of either interference or premature shutdown.” He added that while the men deserved their sentences, “the people of New York deserve better.”

Before sentencing the Skeloses, Judge Wood scolded the former senator for violating his “unique position of power and trust.”

The judge seemed to acknowledge the spate of graft scandals, saying she wanted “other politicians to learn from this sentence that public corruption will be punished.” The prison term, however, was less than half of what prosecutors had asked for.

Judge Wood also imposed a $500,000 fine — the amount sought by the government — on the former senator, as well as a $334,120 forfeiture to be paid jointly by him and his son. Prosecutors had noted that Dean Skelos had built a net worth of more than $2 million during his nearly three decades in the Senate, and had also applied for a state pension of almost $96,000 a year.

While the judge cited some of Dean Skelos’s accomplishments and service to his constituents, it was clear that she found few redemptive qualities in his son. She seemed appalled by wiretapped conversations that she said exposed his “bullying,” “cynicism” and “extreme” physical threats — tactics, she said, “more usually associated with professional criminals.”

“You appeared to have no moral compass,” Judge Wood told Adam Skelos, 33. “I think you did everything you could to monetize your father’s position for your personal benefit.”

At trial, prosecutors presented evidence that the elder Mr. Skelos, 68, used his position as majority leader to pressure a real estate developer, an environmental technology company and a medical malpractice insurer — firms that depended on his support as senator for legislation that benefited their interests — to provide Adam Skelos with consulting work, a direct payment of $20,000 and a job that required him to do virtually no work.

Lawyers for the Skeloses had asked Judge Wood to spare them from prison and sentence them to probation and community service. But on Thursday, G. Robert Gage Jr., one of the former senator’s lawyers, suggested instead that his client receive a short prison sentence.

Mr. Gage suggested that the underlying theme of the case was “this father-son emotional relationship.”

“To his great credit as a person as well as a parent, Dean always stuck by Adam,” Mr. Gage said, “perhaps to a fault.”

Indeed, during the trial, witnesses told the jury that Adam Skelos essentially held a no-show job. On the rare occasions when he did go to work, his behavior was troublesome. When a supervisor confronted him, Mr. Skelos threatened to “smash” his head, and said that men like him “couldn’t shine” Mr. Skelos’s shoes.

Secretly recorded conversations played for the jury exposed other unsavory aspects of Adam Skelos’s behavior. He could be heard on one recording speaking about how he concealed an extramarital affair from his wife. He said he planned to get a puppy for his wife because “she’ll find it easier to say O.K.” on the occasions when he stayed in a hotel after work, rather than returning home.

“The things I do to stay out,” Adam Skelos could be heard saying. He also said that he used the FaceTime app to talk with his mistress because “FaceTime doesn’t show up on a phone bill.”

In court on Thursday, Christopher P. Conniff, a lawyer for Adam Skelos, cited his client’s alcohol and drug dependency and noted that his wife, with whom he has two young sons with autism, had left him.

“The devastation that has been caused in part by his immaturity and at times arrogance,” Mr. Conniff said, “is probably going to be a greater harm to him than frankly any sentence.”

Adam Skelos was impassive until he rose to address the court. Then, his voice breaking at times, he did what his father had done minutes before: ask for leniency, but not for himself.

“It was hard for me to sit through this case and come face to face with the person I was a few years ago,” Adam Skelos said, adding, “I’ve had my struggles in life, but now realize that I can’t use them as an excuse for my conduct.”

He closed, in part, by asking Judge Wood to “show leniency to my dad and not to me.”

When Adam Skelos returned to his seat, his father threw an arm around him and squeezed him; he kissed his father on the cheek.

Both men left the courthouse without comment.

Mr. Bharara’s office had sought much stiffer sentences, suggesting that an appropriate prison term for Dean Skelos would be about 12 to 15 years, and for Adam Skelos, about 10 to 12 years.

“You can’t argue that you rob a bank repeatedly over the course of years and you did it for your family,” a prosecutor, Jason A. Masimore, said on Thursday, adding that the evidence demonstrated that “Dean Skelos was strong-arming these victims and forcing them to pay.”

Dean Skelos, who stepped down from his leadership position after his arrest last May, automatically lost his seat in the Legislature upon being convicted.

Mr. Cuomo, in a brief statement, said the sentences “show there is zero tolerance for those who use public service for private gain.”

Judge Wood did not set a date for the two men to surrender to prison authorities, saying she would rule first on their lawyers’ request that they be allowed to remain free pending their appeals.

New York Lawmakers and Their Sentences
A list of the longest prison terms given to convicted former state officeholders in New York in recent years.

Defendant Sentence Year

William F. Boyland Jr., Assemblyman 168 months 2015
Sheldon Silver, Assembly speaker 144 months 2016
Daniel J. Halloran III, N.Y. City Councilman 120 months 2015
Brian M. McLaughlin, State Assemblyman 120 months* 2009
Carl Kruger, State Senator 84 months 2012
Malcolm A. Smith, State Senator 84 months 2015
Efraín González Jr., State Senator 84 months 2010
Anthony S. Seminerio, State Assemblyman 72 months 2010
Dean G. Skelos, State Senate majority leader 60 months 2016
Miguel Martinez, N.Y. City Councilman 60 months 2009
Pedro Espada Jr., State Senator 60 months 2013

Larry B. Seabrook, N.Y. City Councilman 60 months 2013

Here is Laura Ahole giving an award to her fellow criminal Dean Skelos. 

Newsday OpEd: What a spectacle of a day on Long Island

In order to better understand PFML's unique status in Long Island, you have to examine the cesspool of corruption that is Suffolk County politics. Besides, this features Phoney Belloney.

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/dean-skelos-sentenced-steve-bellone-tells-thomas-spota-to-resign-what-a-day-1.11793040

Opinion
What a spectacle of a day on Long Island
May 12, 2016 3:46 PM
By Michael Dobie

Even by the standards of Long Islanders inured to the steady drumbeat of public corruption, Thursday provided a spectacle the likes of which the region has not seen.

Shortly after noon — high noon, indeed, with no appearance yet by anyone remotely resembling Gary Cooper — two dramas played out on stages about 50 miles apart.

In a courtroom in Manhattan, former State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos of Rockville Centre was sentenced to 5 years in prison for using his power and his position to land a series of jobs for his son, Adam, who received a 6 1/2 year term.

About the same time, outside and inside the Suffolk County district attorney’s office in Hauppauge, the county’s top two elected officials launched furious broadsides at one another centered on allegations of corruption.

County Executive Steve Bellone demanded that District Attorney Thomas Spota resign, citing Newsday stories that disclosed that Spota’s office had uncovered possible crimes via wiretaps but then did not prosecute those activities. Bellone decried what he called the “culture of corruption” in Spota’s office.

Spota responded almost immediately, saying that Bellone’s attacks were personally motivated and that Bellone has a “vendetta” against him because Spota had successfully prosecuted people close to Bellone. Spota sought to dismiss Newsday’s detailed and well-sourced report, calling it “fundamentally flawed.”

Then Spota dropped his own bombshell — that Bellone had other motives for wanting him out, intimating it had to do with “documents” Spota has sent to the state Board of Elections for investigation.

In the midst of the charges and counter-charges, five Suffolk Republican legislators publicly called for the resignations of Spota AND Bellone, both of whom are Democrats. Call it politics, if you like, but it was not an ennobling moment.

And shortly after, Bellone held another news conference to condemn Spota’s defense and attack anew. And on and on it undoubtedly will go.

Long Islanders have grown cynical about corruption. Can you blame us? We’ve seen it at all levels of government — state, county, town and village. We don’t like it and we want it punished, the polls clearly indicate that. But based on our collective years of experience, culminating in Thursday’s extraordinary high-noon crescendo, we also have come to expect corruption, even extraordinary instances of it.

That perhaps is the saddest legacy of politics on Long Island.

Retired NY Supreme Court Justice SLAMS Laura Ahearn, PFML, and Steve Bellone

This brought a HUGE smile to my face. I'd like to see PFML's reaction to THIS letter from a retired state supreme court justice.

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/letters/letter-why-a-new-deal-for-megan-s-law-group-1.11769142

Letter: Why a new deal for Megan’s Law group?
Updated May 6, 2016 11:52 AM
By Newsday Readers

In this Thursday, March 3, 2016 photo, Laura Ahearn, center, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law, poses with retired New York City police detectives who work for her organization verifying the accuracy of the state's sex offender registry, in Ronkonkoma, N.Y. Ahearn's organization is completing a three-year, $2.7 million contract with Suffolk County, N.Y., to verify the registry. In the front row from left are Joe Grimm, Paul Alonzo, and Edwin Rivera. In the back row are from left are Harry Zakian, Robert Carboine and Alex Ramos. (AP Photo/Frank Eltman) Photo Credit: AP

The story “Group sues sex offender” [News, April 24] refers to a private organization, Parents for Megan’s Law, founded by Laura Ahearn. The group has brought a defamation lawsuit against a registered sex offender, Derek W. Logue, who runs a civil rights organization for sex offenders, on account of his public and critical comments about Parents for Megan’s Law. Several revelations in the article are deeply disturbing.

First is the fact that Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone is about to renew the contract with Ahearn’s organization. And for what? To carry out an exclusively public, governmental legal responsibility, which is seeing that New York’s Sex Offender Registration Act is obeyed.

Parents for Megan’s Law is not the Suffolk County Police Department. As Newsday’s article points out, the group is already a defendant in a federal civil rights lawsuit for a home interrogation of another man, and now you report that it is hauling into court yet another of its critics.

Is anybody minding the store?

William M. Erlbaum, Forest Hills

Editor’s note: The writer is a retired justice of the New York State Supreme Court and an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School.

Parents For Megan's Law sues a poor man from another state in retaliation for Internet comments. Your $900k a year at work

The Suffolk nonprofit hired by the county to monitor registered sex offenders has sued a Cincinnati registered sex offender, accusing him of defaming the group with his online posts.

Did the law offices of WeitzPascale gave these to PFML? Seems like it.

I want you to wrap your minds around the concept of a million dollar corporation suing some guy on the Internet (who happens to be on welfare at that) because they said said their organization sucks (PFML sucks) and that they're probably using their funds to curry favor (as many politicians do).

Why is PFML really suing Derek Logue? Because he had the courage to stand up to them. After all, PFMl is already being sued for harassment. This is a blatant abuse of law, and I'm pretty sure this lawsuit will backfire.

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/parents-for-megan-s-law-files-lawsuit-against-sex-offender-1.11724412

Parents for Megan’s Law files lawsuit against sex offender
Updated April 23, 2016 8:06 PM
By Laura Figueroa  laura.figueroa@newsday.com


Parents for Megan’s Law filed a lawsuit in Suffolk state Supreme Court in Central Islip on Tuesday, claiming Derek W. Logue, who runs a support website for sex offenders, made “false disparaging statements about the integrity” of the Ronkonkoma-based group on his Twitter account and an online news forum.

Logue, who was served with court papers as he protested outside of the nonprofit’s Comac Street office on Wednesday, contends his posts accusing the group of receiving “kickbacks” are protected by the constitutional right to free speech.

The legal dispute comes as the group, which tracks the addresses of more than 1,000 registered sex offenders and provides counseling services to sex-abuse victims, renegotiates its three-year $2.7 million contract with Suffolk. It is set to expire at the end of the month.

Vanessa B. Streeter, a spokeswoman for Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, said the county plans to renew the group’s contract, but is “still working out the terms.”

At the center of the lawsuit is a Feb. 23 post Logue wrote responding to an online article about an upstate Broome County lawmaker’s call to increase the 20-year period Level 1 sex offenders must remain on the state’s registry to 25 years.

“This is what is known as ‘moving the goal post,’” Logue wrote in the comments section of Binghamton’s FOX 40 WICZ TV news website. “ . . . The REAL reason the state is pushing this is because Parents for Megan’s Law gets millions of dollars in kickbacks.”

In that post, and on his Twitter account, Logue questioned whether the agency’s funding went to “padding” the pockets of the Broome County legislator pushing for the increase, a claim the nonprofit’s attorneys say is “false” and made “with reckless disregard for the truth.”

Laura Ahearn, founder and executive director of Parents for Megan’s Law, said she couldn’t comment on the lawsuit, and referred questions to the group’s pro-bono attorneys at the Mineola law firm of WeitzPascale.

“You can’t go around defaming innocent organizations that are here only to defend children, the elderly, the disabled,” said attorney Brian C. Pascale, a partner at the firm.

Logue... said he has traveled to other cities to protest sex-offender residency restriction laws.

He said he came to Suffolk to protest the county’s tracking program because he believes municipalities should focus on funding “rehabilitative” programs that help offenders reintegrate into society.

“They’re trying to silence me for speaking up,” Logue said in an interview. “It’s easy to go after and dehumanize a group that’s invisible in the eyes of society.”

Logue, who carried a sign that read “Parents for Megan’s Law: Stop Supporting Myths for Money,” said he tried to stage a larger demonstration. He said he sent letters to 300 Suffolk registered offenders encouraging them to come out and protest, but only one showed up.

Parents for Megan’s Law is also defending itself against a federal lawsuit filed last month by a Suffolk registered sex offender, who claims the nonprofit violated his civil rights by interrogating him at his house.

BAD COP, WORSE COP: JAMES BURKE AND THE OVERWHELMING STENCH OF CORRUPTION IN SUFFOLK COUNTY

From Newsweek. This cop was a big fan of the PFML contract and bragged about it being the toughest in the nation. And then... well, we all know the old adage about those crowing loudest having the most to hide.

The most ironic thing is ex-Chief Burke's words when pushing to shut down the trailers for homeless registrants:

“Let’s face it. If I took 20 bank robbers and put them under the same roof, at the end of the week, what would I come up with?” he said. “Twenty better bank robbers.”

What do you get when you take 18 Suffolk County legislators, a vigilante group, and Steve Bellone and put them under the same roof for a week?

http://www.newsweek.com/james-burke-political-corruption-federal-prosecutor-us-attorney-district-411386

BAD COP, WORSE COP: JAMES BURKE AND THE OVERWHELMING STENCH OF CORRUPTION IN SUFFOLK COUNTY
BY JOSH SAUL ON 1/4/16 AT 3:59 PM

Could this be the dirtiest cop in America?

When the chief of the police department in New York’s Suffolk County heard in 2012 that the addict who had broken into his SUV and stolen a canvas bag stuffed with his pornography and sex toys had been arrested, the chief walked into the interrogation room where the addict was manacled to the floor and beat, kicked and threatened to kill him, federal prosecutors have charged.

A few days later, James Burke, 51, bragged to other Suffolk cops about his attack on the addict, saying it reminded him of his “old days” as a young police officer, and even called the detectives who watched the assault his “palace guards,” prosecutors wrote in court papers.

Burke’s arrest last month on assault and conspiracy charges could be more than just the story of a rogue police chief finally corralled. It may also open a window onto the widespread corruption that some say has long festered in this large suburban county on the eastern half of New York’s Long Island.

Federal prosecutors are probing whether the local police department and the district attorney’s office are corrupt—including whether judgeships are for sale—and they are also investigating an incident in which the DA’s office listened to federal agents on a wiretap, The New York Times has reported.

Suffolk County workers, politicians, and cops who have met with federal prosecutors have said DA probes and prosecutions are often influenced by political considerations, the Times reported.

“Suffolk County is riddled with corruption. The large majority of the cops are great, hardworking people, but the upper hierarchy of county government is corrupt, and I’m thankful that the feds are here,” County Legislator Rob Trotta, a former detective with the Suffolk County Police Department who was assigned to the FBI for 10 years, tells Newsweek.

No charges have been filed against Thomas Spota, the current Suffolk County DA, and Burke pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned last month.

Burke’s rise to chief began with the high-profile 1979 murder of a 13-year-old boy and the then-teenage Burke’s testimony on what he heard other teens say about the killing in the ensuing murder trials, which were prosecuted by Spota.

Burke became a Suffolk cop and was promoted to sergeant; a 1995 department probe found that he had a sexual relationship with a prostitute who sold drugs, according to Newsday.

Despite that, Spota appointed Burke to run the DA’s squad of detectives in his office in 2002. Burke was then tapped by the county executive to be police chief in 2012, after the former executive stepped down in a deal to avoid prosecution after Spota launched an investigation into his political fundraising, according to Newsday.

“You know what manure smells like when you first put it on a field out here? It stinks. It’s revolting,” retired Suffolk Detective Sergeant Robert Doyle tells Newsweek. “But after a while, people get used to [the corruption]. People don’t pay attention to it. After a while, you just get used to the stink of shit out here.”

Burke, who was held without bail, is scheduled to appear in federal court Wednesday for a status conference on his criminal charges.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/27/nyregion/james-burke-ex-suffolk-county-police-chief-guilty-plea.html

James Burke, Ex-Suffolk County Police Chief, Pleads Guilty
By ARIELLE DOLLINGER and MARC SANTORA FEB. 26, 2016

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — The former police chief of Suffolk County pleaded guilty on Friday to federal charges stemming from accusations that he beat a suspect in custody, threatened to kill him and then coerced his fellow officers into covering up the misconduct.

The former chief, James Burke, 51, who was known for his swaggering confidence as the leader of one of the region’s largest police departments, was subdued in Federal District Court here as the charges against him were read aloud.

“I plead guilty, Your Honor,” said Mr. Burke, wearing a drab khaki prison uniform.

Since the federal inquiry into Mr. Burke’s actions began some three years ago, investigators have expanded their inquiries and are now examining the workings of the Police Department and the district attorney’s office.

Since the federal inquiry into Mr. Burke’s actions began some three years ago, investigators have expanded their inquiries and are now examining the workings of the Police Department and the district attorney’s office.

Robert L. Capers, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said the investigation was continuing and would seek out those who might have been involved in wrongdoing.

“The defendant violated his oath and responsibilities as a law enforcement officer by exacting personal vengeance, assaulting a handcuffed suspect and abusing his authority as the highest ranking uniformed member of the Suffolk County Police Department,” Mr. Capers said in a statement. “Despite the efforts of the defendant and his co-conspirators to obstruct the federal investigation, he has been brought to justice.”

Here is Ahearn with fellow disgrace James "The Porn King" Burke

Joseph Conway, Mr. Burke’s lawyer, later told reporters that he planned to argue for a sentence of less than five years in prison for violating the suspect’s civil rights and conspiring to obstruct justice. The maximum possible sentence for the civil rights charge is 10 years in prison; for the obstruction charge, it is 20 years.

“He realized what he did here, and he wants to own up to it,” Mr. Conway said. “He’s very remorseful.”

The charges against Mr. Burke stemmed from an episode in December 2012 when Christopher Loeb, a heroin addict who financed his $100-a-day habit by breaking into cars, was arrested on suspicion of stealing a duffel bag stuffed with cigars, pornographic DVDs and sex toys from Mr. Burke’s police car.

He was brought to a precinct house and shackled to the floor.

In a 2013 court hearing, Mr. Loeb testified that when he asked for a lawyer, one detective told him, “This isn’t ‘Law & Order’; you’re not going to get an attorney.”

When Mr. Burke entered the interrogation room, Mr. Loeb “was handcuffed and chained to an eyebolt fastened to the floor,” according to prosecutors.

Photo

Christopher Loeb Credit Suffolk County Sheriff Department
“Chief Burke grabbed me by my cheeks and hit me on the top of my head,” Mr. Loeb testified during his 2013 trial, during which he was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison.

Mr. Loeb responded to the thrashing by calling Mr. Burke “a pervert” and mocking him for the pornography he found in his car, according to federal prosecutors.

At that point, prosecutors said, Mr. Burke “went out of control, screaming and cursing at Loeb and assaulting him until a detective finally said, ‘Boss, that’s enough, that’s enough.’”

After the interrogation, Mr. Burke pressured the detectives who witnessed the assault to conceal it.

“Those efforts continued even after the F.B.I. and the U.S. attorney’s office opened an investigation of the assault in May 2013,” according to a statement released by prosecutors announcing Mr. Burke’s indictment in December.

After Mr. Burke was arrested, Judge Leonard Wexler took the unusual step of denying him bail, saying he posed a danger to the community.

Photo

Thomas J. Spota Credit Barton Silverman/The New York Times
“I find the corruption of an entire department by this defendant is shocking,” Judge Wexler said in December.

The federal inquiry has since expanded beyond Mr. Burke to look into a broader pattern of possible corruption in both the police department and the office of the Suffolk County district attorney, Thomas J. Spota.

Investigators are looking into the conduct of two of Mr. Spota’s protégés — Mr. Burke and the district attorney’s top anticorruption prosecutor — and any role they may have had in what federal prosecutors have described as a conspiracy to obstruct justice, three officials familiar with the investigation told The New York Times earlier this year.

The new Suffolk police commissioner, Tim Sini, is a former assistant United States attorney from the Southern District of New York, and he has hired a former federal corruption investigator, John Barry, to review the department’s internal affairs files.

At a court hearing after Mr. Burke’s arrest, a federal prosecutor, James Miskiewicz, described a pattern of abuse, including the use of a contractor for the district attorney’s office to install a GPS device on a deputy police commissioner’s car.

Mr. Burke was hoping to “to dig up blackmail dirt on her,” Mr. Miskiewicz testified, calling the episode “something out of the K.G.B.”

Mr. Spota and Mr. Burke have been close for decades, and the district attorney helped Mr. Burke secure his job as the top officer for much of Long Island, despite a sometimes checkered history.

Two decades ago, as a sergeant, Mr. Burke had a sexual relationship with a prostitute, according to an internal affairs investigation that accused Mr. Burke of accidentally leaving his handgun with the woman, Newsday reported.

Mr. Burke not only survived that incident but also thrived. He was named chief in 2012, the highest-ranking uniformed position in the department, which, like New York City’s, is led by a civilian commissioner.

With some 2,700 sworn officers and over 600 civilian members, the department is one of the largest in the region.

Compared with those in other departments, officers in the Suffolk agency are well paid, making $125,000 in base pay. That is about $50,000 more than their counterparts in New York City, and it does not include overtime pay, which can be substantial, or the extra money officers receive for each year on the job.

Detectives and sergeants have been known to earn more than $200,000 a year. The police unions on Long Island are so wealthy they have formed a “super PAC” to flood local elections with campaign donations.

In 2006, Donald Keegan was arrested for trying to murder four registered citizens. So why aren't we warned about him?

In September 2006, Donald Keegan, who reportedly worked as a maintenance man at the Suffolk County Department of Public Works in Yaphank, tried to burn down one of Suffolk County's temporary shelters to kill all the registered citizens inside. 

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota told the NY Post an undercover police officer befriended Keegan in the days before the abortive attack and was able to tape him planning the murder through audio and video surveillance. An excerpt of one videotape allegedly shows Keegan lurking in the rear of the targeted home and telling the undercover officer: “I want them dead.” Spota added that Keegan, who was employed as a maintenance worker by Suffolk County, expressed his dislike for blacks, Native Americans and welfare recipients during his conversations with the officer.

Donald Keegan was held on $1 million cash bail and $2 million bond. He faced up to 25 years in prison. He got between 6 and 9 years.  

This guy isn't on an "arsonist's registry" (Ohio, California, and Louisiana have arson registries). This guy isn't found on any mugshot websites. I had a hell of a time finding a picture of his arrest photo (found in the archives of an obscure newspaper). I'm willing to bet the neighbors weren't warned a person who tried to kill FOUR people moved in next door to him. 

But hey, it seems PFML is more concern with teen sexters than an attempted murderer.

Wait, did Laura Ahearn just state it is better to have an untrained goon knock at the door than a trained investigator?

It certainly sounds that way.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/track-sex-offenders-ny-county-hires-cops-37557231

PFML's registrant Keystone Kompliance Kops

How Do You Track Sex Offenders? NY County Hires Ex-Cops
By FRANK ELTMAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS RONKONKOMA, N.Y. — Mar 10, 2016, 6:24 PM 

The "registry verification representatives" wear street clothes and travel in nondescript Toyota sedans. They work in pairs, knocking on doors at run-down trailers and waterfront mansions to find out if registered sex offenders are actually living where they say they are.

But this is not some elite police unit. It is part of an unusual public-private partnership in Long Island's Suffolk County that uses six retired New York City police officers to hold ex-cons accountable to sex-offender registry laws.

Since 2013, Suffolk County has paid the nonprofit group Parents for Megan's Law about $780,000 a year to run the program, resulting in 8,700 home checks and 104 people charged with violating the registry law. Detectives found some offenders on the registry were deceased or deported; others listed addresses that ended up being vacant lots or abandoned homes.

County officials have deemed the program, which also includes counseling services for crime victims, a success and want the nonprofit's three-year contract renewed, but some are questioning whether the checks amount to harassment and whether a private entity should be performing duties that traditionally have been the purview of law enforcement.

A registered sex offender claimed in a federal lawsuit filed last year that he was "the target of two harassing investigations" by Parents For Megan's Law. The offender, who was only identified in court papers as John Jones because of concerns about retribution, said retired officers came to his home "without a warrant and absent any suspicion."

The lawsuit is pending. A judge ruled last month that despite its status as a private organization, Parents for Megan's Law could be sued for civil rights violations in its role as a "state actor."

There are also questions about whether the effort is achieving the main goal of sex registries, which is to prevent habitual rapists and molesters from striking again.

The laws, which require sex offenders to tell authorities where they are living, are named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and killed in 1994 by a twice-convicted sex offender who lived near her.

Dr. Bill O'Leary, a forensic psychologist and longtime critic of the program, said intense scrutiny of convicts is a poor use of resources because 95 percent of sexual abuse occurs between a victim and a known acquaintance, not a stranger living down the street.

"One of the most unethical pieces of the situation has been saying that we need to do this to prevent sexual abuse when we know statistically that this has nothing to do with preventing sexual abuse," he said.

Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Meghan's Law, declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said she is confident the program helps deter crime.

"We can't allow state and federal lawmakers to say you have a great sex offender registry law, and then walk away from it," Ahearn said. "If you're going to have a registry, that registry needs to be up-to-date and accurate."

She also said her group is saving taxpayers money in a county where active-duty detectives can earn as much as $200,000 annually, including benefits.

"Do you really want that detective who is highly skilled at doing an investigation knocking on the door of a registrant? No, you don't," she said.

The Suffolk County Police Department maintains oversight over the program and approves all home visits in advance.

The visits are unannounced. On a recent morning, retired detectives carrying IDs, but not badges, checked on the status of three offenders, but no one answered at any of the homes. They return as many as five times before contacting the police department to suggest an investigation of an offender's whereabouts.

Jack Rinchich, president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police/American Police Hall of Fame, said he knew of no similar program in the country.

It's not clear whether Suffolk's efforts since 2013 have been more successful than in years past. The department could not immediately provide such statistics.

In neighboring Nassau County, the police department makes random compliance checks of offenders and has a 99-percent compliance rate, said Detective Lt. Richard LeBrun.

The program hasn't been operating long enough to draw conclusions about its impact on recidivism. According to Suffolk police, two people on the registry who would have been subject to the checks have been arrested for new sex crimes since 2013.

Statewide, at least 2,230 arrests have been reported to the Department of Criminal Justice Services for offenders who failed to register since 2013. As of early March, there were 39,313 registered offenders in the state, with the whereabouts of 463 unknown.

Craigslist? Really?

A multi-million dollar business is using Craigslist to hire more workers. Is being a douchebag a prerequisite for the job? Where's the Craigslist Killer when you need him?

http://longisland.craigslist.org/sec/5474803026.html

F/T - Sex Offender Address Verification Program (Suffolk County) 
(google map)

compensation: Salaried
employment type: full-time
non-profit organization

The Crime Victim's Center - Parents for Megan's Law) a Long Island not-for-profit organization is seeking retired law enforcement professionals to work in the Sex Offender In-Person Verification and Community Support Program. 

Candidates must have a minimum of 20 years law enforcement experience and will be subjected to a rigorous background check. In this position you will interact with the community, crime victims and all levels of law enforcement, prosecution, registered sex offenders and offender supervisory agencies on sex offender management issues. 

Strong research, computer software (Excel, Word, Accurint) and interpersonal skills and the ability to write concise and accurate reports is essential. 

Preference will be given to candidates who have documented investigative, computer crime and sex offender management experience. 

Email your resume in Microsoft Word format. You must name your resume file using your last name, ie. if your last name is Smith, then your resume file should be named "Smithesume.doc" Enter "SOM Program" in the subject area of your email. Please include salary requirements. Positions do not require a 211 waiver. 

RESUMES THAT ARE NOT IN WORD FORMATS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED NOR WILL RESUMES FAXED OR EMAILED TO THE AGENCY. 

If you have submitted your resume in the past, please resubmit it for consideration.

All applicants will be considered for positions without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, genetic disposition, family care status, carrier status, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, or other legally protected status. All qualified applicants must undergo a mandatory drug and alcohol screening, a full background check, education verification, professional reference checks, an e-verify check and a sex offender registry verification.