A Sheriff's deputy in Wise County has been arrested in a bizarre incident.
Sgt. Chad Hightower told sex offenders the state now required him to photograph them nude. He even told one fellow he must achieve an
erection for the photo shoot, which took place in the police impound
yard. Unreal.
Apparently similar photos were found on the deputy's
camera involving other sex offenders, which to me indicates how easily
this powerless population may be manipulated and abused. They've been
stripped of so many rights, subjected to so many degradations, that it's
near-impossible for a layperson to judge the legitimacy of such
demands and requires tremendous courage to confront abuses.
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30 comments:
Hopefully the court in which this deputy is prosecuted will require HIM to register as a sex offender and serve, in effect, a life sentence of limited access to housing, unemployability, and poverty.
Lets don't make a generalization based on 1 deputy's stupidity.
Just another case of police abuse of authority.
Grits:
"They've been stripped of so many rights, subjected to so many degradations, that it's near-impossible for a layperson to judge the legitimacy of such demands and requires tremendous courage to confront abuses."
Excellent Comment! And these degradations continue with the blessings of our "noble" judiciary!
One of the problems is that many of the registration offices require much more information than what is listed in the Criminal Code of Procedures. These registered folks never know what they'll be required to disclose from year to year. It's always something more and new and different. Art.62.051 lists the requirements for registering but check out (8)'any other information required by the department'
So.....who the hell knows what the 'department' will require? It changes all the time and there's not much a registrant can do but submit.
Has there been a lawsuit started on this?
Here is a problem I have encountered (and a few other registrants I have spoken to have had similar experiences) with registering in a Dallas suburb (actually afraid to say which actual city for fear of retaliation). RSOs are required to update their registration with any changes that occur (i.e emails, employment, address, online identifiers, etc.) Thing is, on three separate occasions I went in and updated a piece of information with the police department...only to find out sometimes months, sometimes years later that my registration was NOT up to date because someone at the police station either lost, didn't enter the information or incorrectly entered the updated information I provided them. One time this happened and the registering officer threatened to charge me with a felony for failure to register...because THEY lost or didn't update the information. So, a ROS's freedom hangs on some office worker's sloppy data entry and recordkeeping abilities...or worse yet, a vengeful police department can "lose" the information on purpose in order to bring trumped up charges against someone trying to stay compliant.
Grits..why don't you do an article on that?
The best and only answer to the individual worried about having charges filed even when you have registered correctly. You as an individual registrant can request a copy of the form after they have signed it for your records. That way if you are arrested you have a record of the registration and the details that you provided.
My first thought is to hang this guy up and then I realize that all the individuals that have treated registrants poorly are now coming full circle and the Lord is taking care of them. If would really be nice if from this day forward we as a group would read and pray Psalm 109 every morning 6am against all that treat registrants poorly.
To 08:04,
Actually, I DO get copies from when I register, but they say they can only print out the "first page", which only shows a small portion of my information, and none of the information I had just updated.
Grits, I've lost track of where I saw this story online, so I may have details not absolutely correct. But, a similar situation was reported out of another state, where police were insisting that a juvenile allow them to photograph his penis while engorged. They wanted to compare the photo with a photo which the juvenile was suspected of sending to another, female juvenile.
Don't know how that turned out.
Chad Hightower will probably join the ranks of gypsy cops and soon be back to work, maybe in your town.
Someone please look into how Blanco County is using perceived or fabricated violations of registration rules to revoke probation or re-imprison of former offenders. It is a concerted effort.
Perhaps we need registration of the 17 year old girls, (who look 25) to register as "women of questionable moral character". That way perhaps the law enforcement personnel might not be so gung ho to ruin the life of an individual male because he succumbed to having consensual sex with a minor "child". If all those young "women" had their face plastered all over the internet as undesirable you can bet these draconian laws would be changing.
A v very clear revelation came to me a few years back about sex offender (SO)registry and residency laws. I have tried in vain to tell people back it has fallen on death ears because can't wrap their heads around this. That revelation was that SO laws are whats called pre-curser laws. Pre-curser laws are laws passed to paved the way for other more onerous laws that will be applied to everyone. Take a close look at registration and residency laws and ask yourself: Exactly how do these laws keep my family safe? Answer. They cannot! No way. Now look at how the courts have basically stripped away all constitution protections from people with a sex crime. I can go deeper but not enough space here. But people be warned, sometime in the future, SO laws are coming to everyone. It may be your children or grandchildern but its coming if you don't demand right now of your state legislatures to strke these laws down.
Not much is going to change in this area of how the police, the legislature, the judicial system, and most of all, how society as a whole views and treats citizens convicted of a sex offense --- until the registrants and their families start taking action and letting their voices be heard.
Check out Texas Voices, a group of registrants and their families who are dedicated to getting the laws that affect convicted sex offenders removed, replaced and/or overturned.
Until convicted sex offenders come out of their shell and start speaking out, letting the world know that 95% or better of those on the "list" are not the threat that others are labeling them as, well then, things will continue as they are and quite possibly get worse.
If you continue to take the view that nothing will change then that is how your on version of reality will play out. Change can occur but it will not take place by itself and please, please do not keep expecting other people to do this for you. You create your own reality. Get off your butts and make an effort.
Seems that America has always had to have a whipping boy to pour out abuse upon --- blacks, homosexuals, Jews, etc. Now that those groups of people have gained ground and acceptance who's left? Sex offenders.
Stand up guys,and gals, stand up and search out to the few who are willing to help you. I commend Grits for Breakfast for providing the platform for us to comment on this issue.
As the wife of a registrant and a former LEO, all of these comments deeply resonate with me. The SO laws are draconian and *must* be changed!
So my challenge to ALL of you, especially you registered SO's and family members --
Join the fight to change some of these life crushing laws! Texas Voices advocates for rational laws. Join us!
Lawmakers in Texas and across the nation will NEVER change these laws until they understand just how destructive they are. Tell your stories, attend a rally, and most important of ALL - email your representatives, call them, go to their offices. What good does bitching in this forum do to hasten positive change? Lawmakers take every instance of communication with them to mean that about 100 of their constituents feel the same. Imagine the scale........!
So again, take action. Don't just gripe! And Scott, I second the motion for you to pay greater attention to the issue of SO's and their utter lack of human and civil rights in this age of foaming at the mouth hatred of anyone accused or convicted of a sexual nature crime. Please? Many of us would be happy to educate you!
(BTW...... my spouse touched nobody, had 3 pics he wasn't aware he had, so shut up haters. Don't judge lest you be prepared to be judged and have your own computer searched repeatedly for a year after being confiscated!)
To "Anonymous" who posted the comment about 17 year-old girls:
It is not illegal in Texas for an adult to have consentual sex with a 17 year old, as long as.. 1. The adult is not a school district employee where the 17 year old is a student, and, 2. It is not an act of prostitution. It is also not a crime to have consential sex with a minor as long as there is no more than two years difference in age between the parties. This prevents 18 year old guys with 16 and 1/2 year old girlfriends from being prosecuted and having to register as sex offenders.
Your comments are funny (and true on some level) but do not capture the nature of this problem.
Youz guys might want to scale back the advising Grits on what to write about.
If you want to see more in depth topics regarding SO, then please consider creating a blog of your own and when the topic arises comment as you normally would and link back to your site.
GFB may write about it from time to time but in no way in hell is this going to become a soap box for SO. If it were to, regular subscribers would flee in mass.
Wendy Davis is going to be promoting a live fundraiser / debate Sept, 30, 2014 starting at 7:30PM. The location of the event will be at TBD (wherever that is?). Debate from 8 - 9. And she says she'll drop by afterwards.
Maybe some of you can afford to buy your way in (from as low as $25. for students and seniors all the way up to $500. for host) and register to ask her questions regarding the rigged criminal justice system.
You will be on TV at some time so please try not to make Texans look and sound any dumber than we are. Please refrain from talking about the children or making fun of the way she says Texas. Ask her hard questions and write down or hold a recording devise up close enough to get her replies and consider sharing them everywhere. Compare hers to Abbott's and you'll have enough info to vote properly.
So what could possibly go wrong if the sex offender laws are EXPANDED to include other crimes? This is working so well .
@ Anonymous 12:25
Why don't you quit advising the readers of GFB on what to comment on. Grits for Breakfast is a public blog that deals with the criminal justice issues, primarily within Texas, but in the nation as well.
Last I heard, sex offenders are a part of the criminal justice system so I believe they have just as much right to speak out and ask others to do so as well.
Sounds like you could be one of the "sheeple" who believe that people convicted of sex offenses should be treated like trash and not be given a voice. If so, I pity you. Open your mind up a bit and seek the truth, you will be surprised I'm sure.
Thank you for bringing this to light. The prosecuting department can also use some investigating. I am glad to hear that the "Wise County Messenger" is realizing that there are strange happenings in the area.
As a person knowledgeable of this county and surrounding counties, the abuse is great. A Sheriff that refused to take reports, judge that committed suicide,Sheriff that does DA's bidding,judge that should have retired long ago (still sitting in)on cases. It is all about the revenue collected from drug and sex offender cases, many, many cases (not all are guilty).
Virginia was the other state that wanted the dick picture.
"Until convicted sex offenders come out of their shell and start speaking out, letting the world know that 95% or better of those on the "list" are not the threat that others are labeling them as, well then, things will continue as they are and quite possibly get worse."
YOU FIRST. I am crawling back under my rock.
@ Anonymous 07:50
No one is advocating going out in your front yard or in public places to speak out about the injustices that convicted and registered sex offenders live with. There are groups who are willing to accept you and your family to help get the message to the lawmakers and others who can bring about change.
See my reference to Texas Voices. Some progress has been made in this regard during the previous legislature.
However, if you are content to crawl and remain under your "rock", then you deserve as much.
I'm not advocating having sex offenders go unpunished for their crimes. What I am advocating is a fair and just application of social treatment after their time in prison is done and they are released -- either by completing their sentence or on supervision by probation or parole.
No individual should have to live their lives with their heads hung down and filled with shame. Self-esteem issues are paramount to success in anyone's life. Any low-life son of a bitch that feels otherwise has definitely got some serious issues going on in their lives as well.
Very well said 16:00. I can understand how anonymous 07:50 feels. When I first got put on the registry I wanted to lay low and be left alone..but instead the exact opposite happened. First harassment by my neighbor, then harassment by the police. I have spoken several times with those at Texas Voices and am tired of being bullied by the police. Halloween is coming up, so it will be time for local law enforcement to jump on the Halloween SO bandwagon. Grits usually does a VERY good write up about that.
Why aren't official oppression, abuse of office and abuse of official capacity charges being brought?
If it weren't for the integrity of the Ranger, this would have never seen the light of day.
The Wise County Sheriff's Office needs an enema.
This S.O. very recently has had a jailer convicted of Child Rape,
Two more under indictment for stealing inmates' medicine, The district court reporter convicted of peddling dope, and now this.
Yes you are right an enema is in order.....starting with the top turd in charge.
You sir are one of the most ignorant and moronic people I've ever read a response from...
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