Featured NE News Stories:
Convicted Sex Offender Says He Was Kicked Off Spirit Squad
01 Sep 2006 9:25 am
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln said a convicted sex offender is not and will not be a Nebraska cheerleader after a man convicted of online child enticement in 2005 claims he made the team, but was kicked off.
Ryan Geiger, 29, told the Daily Nebraskan that he was kicked off the NU Spirit Squad because he's a convicted sex offender. Geiger told the campus newspaper that he tried out last Friday and made the team.
Geiger served six months for felony online enticement of a child. He arranged to have sex with a 14-year-old girl who turned out to be an undercover trooper.
Nebraska professor developing test strips to detect date-rape drugs
Associated Press
10 Aug 2006 12:00 am
An assistant professor of chemistry is developing a tiny testing kit that women can carry in their purses and use to quickly detect date-rape drugs.
Andrea Holmes, who teaches at Doane College in Crete, said "this seemed to be a really, really relevant topic."
"So many women on college campuses are being affected by this," said Holmes.
Date-rape drugs -- or "roofies" -- such as Rohypnol are secreted into a person's drink. The drug incapacitates the person and causes memory loss. Men and women who have been raped while under its influence can regain their senses with no memory of the assault.
Judge in short sentence flap targeted
The Associated Press
31 May 2006 2:12 pm
A petition drive is calling for the resignation of the judge who sentenced a sex offender to probation instead of prison in part because of his short stature.
The petition drive is being conducted by Tiffany Jones, a resident of the county seat of Sidney, who said she already had about 200 signatures.
A friend and colleague of the judge, Bernie Glaser of Lincoln, Nebraska, said Cecava's ruling has been misunderstood.
He said the prosecutor didn't ask for prison time, and the judge took other factors into account when deciding that prison wasn't right for Thompson including his mental capabilities and information contained in a pre-sentence report that is not public.
"I truly hope that my bet on you being OK out in society isn't misplaced," Cecava said at the sentencing hearing. "It's very hard to keep you in society when I know the risk is another child getting hurt."
District judges in Nebraska are appointed but face retention elections that determine if they will remain in office. Cecava's next retention vote is in 2008. In the 2002 election, 74 percent of the voters said she should remain on the bench.
Judge rules sex offender is too short for prison
Associated Press
25 May 2006 5:14 am
A judge said a 5-foot-1 man convicted of sexually assaulting a child was too small to survive in prison, and gave him 10 years of probation instead.
Legislature Convenes For 2006 Sesson
Let the lawmaking games begin
Senator Pat Bourne of Omaha is sponsoring legislation intended to better-protect children from sex crimes. Governor Dave Heineman and Attorney General Jon Bruning made much Tuesday of their support of the far-reaching measure.
“No crime is more heinous” than the sexual abuse of a child, Heineman told a news conference.
Among its provisions is a mandatory, minimum sentence of 25-years for anyone convicted twice of having sexual contact with anyone under the age of 15 – if the assault results in injury.
Pattern of Sexual Abuse of Teen-age Girls by Police Officers
25 Jun 2003 12:00 am
The sexual abuse of women by police includes a pattern of police officer exploitation of teen-age girls, according to a report released today by the Police Professionalism Initiative (PPI) at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO).
A substantial number of cases cited in "Police Sexual Abuse of Teen-Age Girls: a 2003 Update on Driving While Female" involve girls who are enrolled in police department-sponsored Explorer programs, said Samuel Walker, coordinator of the PPI and a national expert on police accountability. Many police agencies sponsor Explorer programs, which are designed to give teens an understanding of police work and help them evaluate whether they want to pursue a career in law enforcement. Walker, a professor of criminal justice at UNO, co-authored the report with Dawn Irlbeck, a doctoral student in criminal justice at UNO. It is available on the web at http://www.policeaccountability.org.
Sex Offender Restrictions
27 Apr 2006 12:00 am
The Omaha City Council has approved an ordinance restricting where convicted sex offenders can live. It will keep high-risk offenders from living within 500 feet of schools.
The council approved the ordinance Tuesday afternoon.
The ordinance specifically targets child molesters and there was across-the-board support for the plan at Tuesday's city council meeting.
What was a cloudier issue was the matter of policing the ordinance.
Right now it's the job of the state patrol and sheriff's department but Councilman Garry Gernandt wanted it expanded to police.
