Orlando Criminal Defense Blog

A Florida county recently voted to ask its county attorney to draft new, more restrictive regulations concerning registered sex offenders. While the Lake County attorney will draft ordinances for the commission, she warned them that legal challenges could arise.

The commission's vote appeared to be a reaction to a housing company's suggestion that the county could be the right place for a sex-offender neighborhood. Such a development would house registered sex offenders away from places they are not allowed to be near, in addition to providing them with services.

Requirements for Registered Florida Sex Offenders

Registered sex offenders in Florida face numerous requirements, including following a strict registration schedule. Depending on the status and designation of the sex offender, he or she may be prohibited from working or volunteering with children. Some registered Florida sex offenders are not allowed to live near schools or parks. Their ability to secure employment can be negatively affected. Registered offenders risk serious legal consequences if they fail to adhere to the rules.

The Lake County Commission's new regulations could include restrictions on registered sex offenders' rights to live in certain neighborhoods, use libraries and enter parks.

Many people feel safer because of sex offender registration laws, but few pause to consider that these laws leave convicted sex offenders with little or no housing options. Even if a registered sex offender is able to find a community where he is allowed to live, he is unlikely to find a landlord willing to rent to him. Unless offenders have friends or family members willing to take them in, many find themselves forced to live a transient lifestyle.

This problem has received a great deal of attention in Florida in recent years. In Fort Lauderdale, sex offenders had been using a Budget Inn as a semi-permanent home because there were no other housing options in the area. Once the motel's owner found out that he was housing sex offenders in his business, he immediately evicted them to keep the rest of his guests - which included families with young children - safe.

This kind of reaction, however, has the potential to cause more harm than good. According to a report published by the Broward Sexual Offender and Predator Residence Task Force, "housing instability is the consistent and robust predictor for absconding, probation violation and recidivism for criminal offenders...and sex offenders specifically."

In July of this year, Florida police arrested Dr. Ataur Rahman and four others after a year-and-a-half long investigation into a suspected narcotics smuggling ring. Authorities allege that Rahman and his co-conspirators, all of whom were Rahman's patients or employees, were distributing prescription drugs such as Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Methadone and Alprazolam illegally throughout Florida and outside the state.

Authorities began investigating Rahman's medical practice in September 2010. They searched his home and medical practice, as well as obtained his financial records from banks where he held accounts. The investigation also included surveillance work, undercover operations and collecting information from pharmacies and concerned citizens. The investigation was a collaborative effort among Florida police, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the Florida Attorney General's Office, the Florida Department of Health and the 7th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office.

The Florida Department of Health had suspended Rahman's license to practice medicine and filed a complaint against him in October 2011, after Rahman prescribed what the Department believed to be excessive amounts of pain pills to an undercover police officer.

Criminal defense against sex crimes charges such as child pornography, prostitution and sexual battery requires an aggressive legal strategy from the outset. Particularly in cases involving solicitation of minors or related sex crimes against children, law enforcement and prosecutors act swiftly and decisively to assemble evidence, level allegations and nail down charges.

A recent law enforcement operation in Florida resulted in the arrests of 32 men, mostly from Tampa and Orlando. The Cyber Crimes Unit of the Lake County Sheriff's Office spearheaded Operation Summer Nights by posing online as children and parents in a weeklong child solicitation sting. The suspects were apprehended after being lured to a vacation house in Clermont. Other participating agencies included the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Orlando Police Department and other members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.