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New Sex Predator Law Complicates West Virginia Court Case
Angela Bohon
15 Nov 2006 4:03 pm
A new law cracking down on internet predators is at the center of a case in Berkeley County.
Ronald Phillips, of Richmond, was caught sending sexually explicit e-mails to who he thought was a 14-year old West Virginia girl.
After traveling to meet the supposed teenager at a Romney Hotel he discovered it was actually a Hampshire County sheriff's deputy.
Previously, the law carried a minimum of five years in jail for internet predators, however in July the law changed, doubling the minimum sentence. Violators could now get ten years to life in prison.
Because the indictment began in June and ended three days after the new law took effect lawyers are debating which one applies.
"My client is hoping for a fair result that will resolve all of these charges without him having to go to trial. He does not want to sit in jail any longer, facing the possible, severe mandatory minimum penalties,” says Phillips’ attorney Kevin Mills.
Phillips' case will be back in federal court on December 6th.
Cracking Down On Convicted Sex Offenders
Rontina McCann
27 Sep 2006 4:52 pm
West Virigina Parole Services Southern District Supervisor, Doug Workman, says the department is making several policy changes.
The bill requires longer prison terms for sex offenders and eliminates the chance of parole in some cases and more reporting.
Workman also says the new law is retroactive, meaning if someone is deemed a violent sexual predator, they are going to be watched even closer.
He says that's exactly what the Child Protection Act of 2006 is doing for West Virginia.
Violent sexual predators will wear an electronic monitoring device, submit to two polygraph examinations a year and must check in with State Police every 90 days for the sex offender registry.
At their discretion judges, parole boards or supervising officers can require tougher monitoring for any sex offender.
Know sex assault risks for students
15 Sep 2006 12:00 am
While people everywhere may be concerned with drugs such as Rohypnol, GHB and Valium during Spring Break or visiting other unfamiliar places, students must keep their guard up at all times, even in familiar places.
As reported in Thursday's Daily Athenaeum, most incidents of drug-related sexual assault occur at bars or restaurants. Often, a bartender or someone near the bar will slip something into a person's drink.
Students must be extra attentive at bars and parties to make sure they never leave their drinks unattended. Once a person has taken the drug, it might be too late.
Due to memory problems induced by these drugs, the victim may not be aware of the attack until 8 to 12 hours after it occurred, according to the U.S. Drug Administration. Unfortunately, this may be longer than the period of time during which the victim can be tested.
If out in a group, students should keep watch over their friends and take action when a friend blacks out or because sick after only a few drinks. Get medical attention immediately; call 911 for emergency medical help. Do not assume the person just needs to "sleep it off."
Quick thinking could be the only key to getting an accurate test result and putting a sexual predator behind bars. If you believe that you or a friend may have been drugged, visit an emergency room as soon as possible for testing. If you believe you might have been sexually assaulted, preserve all physical evidence of the assault. Do not shower, bathe, douche, eat, drink, wash your hands or brush your teeth before you have a medical evaluation. Save the clothing you were wearing at the time of the assault as well as any other materials that might contain evidence of the drug you may have been given, such as the glass that held your drink.
Nothing of this nature should go unpunished.
Close Loophole On Sex Offenders
07 Sep 2006 12:00 am
Parents of students at Wheeling Country Day School should feel good about how the institution handles security. On Wednesday, school staff members took immediate, effective action when they spotted a convicted sex offender on school property.
Local residents also should feel good about the response of Wheeling police, who arrested the man immediately, then did everything they could think of to keep him in custody.
But that’s where the system broke down. Police had to cite the man for trespassing — and let him go.
The Wheeling man is a convicted sex offender, convicted in Ohio in 1984 of attempted rape. He served a six-year prison sentence in the Buckeye State. His name, picture and other information are included in West Virginia’s sex offender registry.
Wheeling County Day school staff members didn’t know that when they saw him on Tuesday, lurking around school property. They knew only that a man who didn’t belong there was too close for comfort — so they reacted appropriately. They confronted him and held him for police.
If you’re like us, you may have thought that a convicted sex offender caught on school property would be sent straight to jail. Not so.
Man charged in murder of Cross Lanes woman
Tom Searls
02 Aug 2006 12:00 am
When he first raped a woman in 1987, 19-year-old Dale Shawnessy O’Neil tried to kill her with a knife, leaving his victim to die, a judge said then.
Last week in Jackson County, authorities say O’Neil, 38, struck another woman in the head, maybe more than once, before dumping her body in a rural area.
O’Neil was charged early Tuesday with the first-degree murder of Kathleen Jewel Adkins, 43, of Cross Lanes.
Sexual Predator Moves to Harrison County
Elizabeth Schubert
14 Jun 2006 6:29 pm
The county prosecutor and sheriff's deputies are holding a public meeting to educate residents.
The meeting is scheduled for June 27, at 6:30, in the Robert C. Byrd High School Auditorium.
Republicans Sell Fish Oil, Not Good Health
08 Jun 2006 6:00 am
The other big announcement about the special session slated for next week was that we have a compromise on how to punish people who rape children.
The compromise most favored by the electorate would have been to allow sex offenders cigarettes and blindfolds before the imposition of their sentences, but getting legislators to agree that 25 years is an appropriate penalty for forcible sodomy on a 12-year-old is kind of a big deal.
This compromise is particularly telling because the old guard thought it had killed the issue but still was forced to accept reform.
The senseless death of a child spurred a family and a community to demand results. They made some lawmakers, mostly Republican lawmakers, see the insanity of the fact that while our jails are full of crackheads and meth makers, people who molest neighborhood kids are getting home confinement in their neighborhoods.
Summit sex offender arrested in West Virginia
27 Apr 2006 12:00 am
One of Summit County's top 10 sex offenders has been arrested in West Virginia on a charge of failure to register.
Raymond Adams was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service in Mount Hope, W.Va., on Wednesday. He was arrested by marshals once before for failure to register.
Adams was taken into custody without incident and is being held at the Raleigh County Sheriff's Office awaiting extradition.
Ex-Teacher Sentenced on Sex Assault Charges
"I was the monster these families think I am," said Woods
Sexual-predator legislation put on hold
Gov. Joe Manchin and legislative leaders decided Friday evening that they probably wouldn’t deal with a bill to deal with sex offenders this weekend, and perhaps not until April or May.
Casey Urges Special Session for Sexual Predator Legislation
“This legislation is too important to play partisan politics with,” said Casey. “There’s not a single responsible person that I know of that doesn’t want to do everything they can to protect our children from sexual predators.”
