Did Sex Offender Listing Lead To Murder?

The Skinny: Rapist Stabbed To Death, Allegedly By Neighbor Who May Have Seen His Name On List

(CBS)  The Skinny is Keach Hagey's take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.

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Megan's Law, which allows the names and addresses of convicted sex offenders to be listed on the Internet, is often criticized for its theoretical ability to facilitate vigilante violence.

The Los Angeles Times reports on a killing in Lake County, Calif., in which prosecutors are investigating the possibility that this very fear may have come true for the first time in the state.

Convicted rapist Michael Dodele had been free just 35 days when sheriff's deputies found him dead from stab wounds last month in his mobile home. They quickly arrested his neighbor, 29-year-old construction worker Ivan Garcia Oliver, who made "incriminating comments, essentially admitting to his attacking Dodele," police said.

Oliver pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, burglary and elder abuse on Nov. 30.

A neighbor of Oliver's said that two days before the killing, he "told every house" in the trailer park that he found Dodele's name listed on the Web site of convicted sexual offenders, and was uncomfortable living near him.

In a jailhouse interview with the Los Angeles Times, Oliver said he had a son who was molested in the past and he took action to protect the child.

"Society may see the action I took as unacceptable in the eyes of 'normal' people," Oliver said. "I felt that by not taking evasive action as a father in the right direction, I might as well have taken my child to some swamp filled with alligators and had them tear him to pieces. It's no different."

As it turned out, Dodele was not actually a child molester. His records show he sexually assaulted adult women. But a listing on the Megan's Law Web site could have left Oliver with the impression that he had abused children because of the way that it was written.

A spokesman for the state attorney general said the site described the man's offenses as "rape by force" and "oral copulation with a person under 14 or by force."

Charlene Steen, a psychologist who examined Dodele on behalf of the defense in two 2007 trials about whether he should be recommitted to a state hospital, blamed the messenger. "I think [Oliver and Dodele] are both victims of the Internet," she said.

N.Y. Philharmonic To Play In North Korea

Perhaps Bach will be able to do what Bush could not.

The New York Times reports that the New York Philharmonic has accepted an invitation to play in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang in February. The Times says the trip will be the "first significant cultural visit by Americans to that country."

The timing of the announcement - to be made formally today at Avery Fisher Hall - is auspicious, coming amid a series of breakthroughs in the decade-long effort to have North Korea halt its nuclear program.

Just last week, President Bush, who had once consigned North Korea to the "axis of evil," sent a letter to Kim Jong-Il, the country's leader, suggesting ties between their countries could improve if North Korea fully disclosed all nuclear programs and got rid of nuclear weapons.

Although State Department officials have authenticated the invitation and been involved in the planning since it arrived, they appeared to have nothing to do with it originally.

The invitation arrived by fax in August, in the form of a typed letter form the North Korean culture ministry, in English, accompanied by a cover letter from a private individual in California who said he was acting as an intermediary.

Ambassador Christopher Hill, the Bush administration's main diplomat for negotiations with North Korea, said he didn't know how the invitation came about.

Some have questioned the wisdom of visiting a country run by one of the world's most repressive governments, the Times notes. North Korea's politics have been blamed in part for the famine-related starvation of perhaps two million people and it confines hundreds of thousands of people in labor camps.

Hill acknowledged that any kind of opening lends legitimacy to the North Korean government, "but not opening up has not had any positive in bringing North Korea out of its shell."


Workplaces Giving Fewest Holiday Parties, Bonuses Since 9/11

This holiday season, the workplace Grinch's grip on the purse strings is the tightest it's been since the post-9/11 economic slump.

USA Today reports that about 85 percent of companies will host a holiday party this year, according to a survey by Battalia Winston, an international search firm in New York. That's down from 94 percent in 2006 and the lowest percentage since the Sept. 11 attacks.

As for year-end bonuses, don't hold your breath. Only 35 percent of employers have a December holiday or gift program. Ten percent of those that formerly had one have ended it.

The drop in year-end parties comes amid major losses in financial services and other sectors, says dale Winston, CEO of Battalia Winston. It's hard to justify the expense of a party amid such a cost-conscious climate.

The decline in year-end bonuses is based in large part on employers' efforts to tie pay to performance, avoiding the concept of a holiday-bonus entitlement, the paper reports.

Which, if you think about it, is really getting back to the true spirit of Christmas, at least as American children learn it. For what is Santa Claus's list of the naughty and nice but an attempt to tie pay to performance?

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[Keith_Richard_Radford_Jr]

People who call/write requesting death of sex offenders are uninformed, irrational requests after the supreme court told them no. So what are they doing other than wishful thinking? They need desperately to find others who can make them feel sane by association, holding on to a unhealthy thought process of murderous heats. We have legislators who refuses to except any truth and themselves tell people if they don't do what they want they will kill you themselves, which is an unhealthy kind of thinking permeating our society also looking for someone to validate their sanity. When was the last time you just opened a conversation on the bus with Hey lets all kill someone we don't know! California thinks they are going to be able to keep their lifetime registry which is an unfounded and trash laws with no worth. That will stop also. Maybe these low life short sited tragic human beings can find their way out of calling for death, stoning, bombing, electrocuting, seeing the connection to our own terrorist activity bullying, ideology, far reaching unfounded murderous primitive actions which cost everyone and yields nothing giving way to murder by the mere nature of the registry in the hands of unhealthy delusional murderous, insane pools of people.

[poohmama3759]

petalsnroots ...do you realize that none of your posts address the topic at hand? They don''t even make sense!! Are you ok? Meds might help.

[monkey8765]

Everyone knows 15 year old girls are *** and 18 year old men are stupid. These men are going to have to wise up and get a back bone. There are plenty of legal aged women giving it away every day.

[monkey8765]

Everyone knows 15 year old girls are *** and 18 year old men are stupid. These men are going to have to wise up and get a back bone. There are plenty of legal aged women giving it away every day.

[suetiggers]

My son Kenneth was falsely accused almost 12 yrs. ago by an 8 yr. old girl of sexual abuse in Baltimore. Ken was 36 with no record. Last week this girl recanted. She did this to a nationally known voice tester, Mike McQuillan. Ken is in prison now in segration because he was a few days late in registering a change of address. He became the center of a media storm in May,2007 when he moved into a wealthy neighborhood. He was arrested while on parole for going to a snowball stand, staying too long and being recognized. Every tv station ran the story for a week. The only objective story was done by Baltimore City Paper 8/8/07 "The Boogieman of Roland Park" and since this girl recanted they did a new story 12-5-07 "***,Lies and Legal Red Tape". There is so much to this story but the moral is that people who are too quick to assume that an accusation means guilt need to think again. And I feel like my son was also hurt very badly by the kind of legal representation he had. This had a lot to do with why he took an Alford plea. It felt coerced. The lawyer told us so little and gave 15 minutes to make this life-changing decision. Why did the girl lie about my son? She admitted being jealous of the time and attention my son gave to her older sister and that took her sister away from her. Who would believe a child this age would lie about this for this kind of reason. But she did. Read the City Paper and see for yourself.

[beloved13]

My half brother was 18 - dating a 16 year old for 6 months. This girl was very ''worldly'' so to speak, and sexually advanced, while my brother was shy. This girl told me many times, teasingly, that she couldn''t wait to ''teach my brother a few things.''
Long story short, her parents brought charges against him after finding condoms in the girls bedroom and her confession that they slept together.

My brother was sentenced for *** with a minor- which put him on the sexual offenders list. Right after the trial phase, the girl in question actually married one of the prosecuting attorneys, who has since lost his license to practice.

My brother has been harassed in every way you possibly can imagine. His life is ruined. Every time he tries to start a business, buy a house, move to a new neighborhood, he is harassed. People post his picture in local grocery stores, gas stations, etc..He has become a recluse who can barely make ends meet.

[beloved13]

My half brother was 18 - dating a 16 year old for 6 months. This girl was very ''worldly'' so to speak, and sexually advanced, while my brother was shy. This girl told me many times, teasingly, that she couldn''t wait to ''teach my brother a few things.''
Long story short, her parents brought charges against him after finding condoms in the girls bedroom and her confessing that they slept together.
My brother was sentanced for *** with a minor- which put him on the sexual offenders list. Right after the trial phase, the girl in question actually married one of the prosecuting attorneys.

My brother has been harassed in every way you possibly can imagine. His life is ruined. Every time he tries to start a business, buy a house, move to a new neighborhood, he is harassed. He has become a recluse who can barely make ends meet.

In democratic and civilized countries wherein the land is run by the laws not by men,no one should falsely accuse another by the mere use of innuendo, propaganda,lies, hearsay or any ingenius new secret weapons like smears, calumny,aspersion campaigns conducted on the web in the name of freedom of expression.
Blogging in secrecy and conducting an injurious campaign of one another should not be allowed. Because freedom to think, to write and to express oneself should not be exercised at the expense of another party. But if someone wants to correct a wrong by accusing someone(publicly) he should send a copy to the concerned party .By informing the accused, the injured party not only redresses an unjust situation, but gives to his claim some faith. Publication,blogging,media campaigns are effective ways to help bring remedy to an unjust situation. But no cause,case or private vendetta should be prosecuted in secrecy or in an encoded media messages. Without informing properly the accused,that kind of prosecution is only a pure persecution.
Ahmed Debabi. ,Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. K1Y 4V7

[oldned-2009]

Can it be as had been suggested earlier be brought into focuses on true and dangerous offenders, not just anyone. There needs to be some degree of demarcation here if this going to work to determine that and it would seem to be not be that difficult. This fellow Oliver who killed that man does not deserve any sympathy. He is a *** fool and is as much a threat or well frankly more of a threat to any community as he thinks of the man he killed! But I must say in as much as he is a victim of this type of list he should sue for that egregious motivation for his error. There would be some justice in that and it might force the focusing of the application of these list. But there is something else that could be done too. Why not modify the access to this type of list so that only certain individual of fair and competent maturity would be able to access these list? Or if that is not possible at least have it so that to access this list one needs to register themselves as having an understanding of the responsibilities that go along with it. And a failing here will happen in light of the fact that any person though whatever circumstances could get on one of these list.

[morph01]

Some men are on these *** offender lists only because they got a raw deal from an antisocial mother-in-law''s influence, or were framed during a divorce. Hope none of you ever have to go through a lifetime of dealing with that, but it happens all the time. I work with the department of probations so I see it. I am truly sorry for anyone who''s suffered as a result of any crime. I agree that those who do not publish the WHOLE truth regarding *** offender cases should be held liable for encouraging vigilantism. It''s obvious that some have an axe to grind, including private web site owners who publish *** offender listings.

[animalwoman-2009]

Two wrongs never make a right. When we take law into our own hands we are no better than heathens. Yes, there are times when having these names listed leads to something such as this, but over all the number of people who are not raped or molested because we know who lives next door is far greater. That, however, never justifies what happen to this rapist. We can''t take the law into our own hands.

[missingamerica]

*monsters (or *molestors...maybe both?)

[rudy654-2009]

Posted by closethippy1 at 04:36 PM
I remember that case. Those people''s reputations were dragged through the mud all based on supplanted ideas in the minds of children. We are no better than those who burned "witches" at stake years ago. Some people here would be right their to light the match on the supposed witches. People like often hide deeper and darker things that are even more frightening than one can imagine.

[missingamerica]

Megan''s law - another example of the horse is gone but slam the barn door anyway.

Need to focus a little more attention on developing more accurate methods of identifying the abusive parents and caregivers who turn children into the mosters of the future.

Break the chain.

[rudy654-2009]

Members of a civilized society does not take the law or determine execution for pre-judicial cases on its own. Since this society believes in the death penalty, this man deserves exactly that.

[closethippy1]

Years ago in Los Angeles the entire staff of a child day care center were accussed by some of the children of sexual abuse. It took eight years to fiugre out the children were lying and the staff was let go but not before they went through hell.
This is a phenomenon that not many people care to take into consideration when dealing with the child abuse issue, but there are children who for one reason or another don''t mind getting you into trouble.
Gotta be careful about these things.

[libsluvsuvs]

"As it turned out, Dodele was not actually a child molester. His records show he sexually assaulted adult women."

oh that makes a lot of difference..and i see a lot of those familiar cyber names defending the same types of people..TRAGIC!

[random_radar]

Did *** Offender Listing Lead To Murder?

This kind of tragedy wouldn''t happen if we put rapists to death.

[b-easy63]

t turns out, he was supposed to register as a ''''*** offender'''' for the rest of his life, but he claimed he didn''''t know that. I don''''t remember the final outcome, but not only was he denied the job, but he was facing charges of violating his parole terms. Imagine if he had registered, his life would have been ruined, and some nut might have tried to kill him! The ironic part of the whole story is once the girl graduated High School , he married her, and was still married to her when all this came back to haunt him!

Posted by nolalou at 01:51 PM : Dec 10, 2007

Without a doubt most of our laws are neither well thought out or applied consistently or effectively. There have been a lot of cases like the one you described and those should not even be cases. the law should be consistent at what age consensual *** can occur and what age disparity nullifies consent and it should be the same in all states as should be the sentence. As for crimes of force and violence, the interpretation of what constitutes that should be consistent also--we need to acknowledge at what age a person can be responsible for their acts of their bodies BUT also be aware of circumstances (like positions of authority or incarceration , etc) which mitigate the meaning of consent.

[gunownerdan]

Here is a lovely story.
A friend of mine went to jail once and he was in a processing room with a few other inmates. All of a sudden a guard came in and said "I''m about to bring in a child molestor" then he shut the door. A few minutes later in came the child molestor, and as soon as the guard left the room the other inmates began beating him senseless as my friend held a piece of paper up to the security camera.