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Laura Ahearn, Executive Director of Parents for Megan’s Law, accepts a Special Leadership in Community Education Award presented to her by Suffolk County Executive Robert Gaffney and Social Services Commissioner John B. Wingate(See Note 1) Ahearn was also nominated as a New York State Senate Woman of Distinction by New York State Senator James Lack (See Note 2).

PFML Editor’s Note:

Note 1. The Special Leadership in Community Education Award presented by County Executive Gaffney and Commissioner Wingate is an annual Child Abuse and Neglect/Family Violence Volunteer and

Under Republican Rep. Matt Salmon’s legislation, universities would be required to make public information about convicted sex offenders attending or working at most institutions of higher learning.  The House passed the legislation unanimously without much attention last month.  According to Newsday, the Campus Protection Act would apply to colleges and universities that receive federal funding.  It was attached to an education bill that makes technical changes to a 1998 student aid law.  The Senate has not yet taken up a companion bill.    The legislation was drafted by Salmon to close

A 14 year old boy was arrested after a 16 year old girl said she was gang-groped by boys at an indoor public pool in Harlem.  The boy claims he is innocent and that the girl asked to be dunked.  During the dunking he claims her bikini top came off.  She said the boys fondled her breasts, buttocks and genitals.  He says he was not part of the dunking or groping, he was trying to help her. The other boys fled.

A federal appeals court ruled that Mark Poehlman was entrapped by the task force involving FBI, Navy and county officials.  The conviction of the Florida man was overturned.  He was arrested walking into a hotel room on the promise of having sex with three underage girls as a result of a police sting.  This ruling, experts say, will further define how such law enforcement operations can be handled and perhaps give those looking to engaging in child pornography tips on how to avoid getting caught.

At a ceremony at the state office building in Hauppauge last week, Laura Ahearn, the founder and executive director of Parents for Megan’s Law, was named one of the New York State Senate Women of Distinction.  She is one of 72 women in New York to be honored in the three-year-old program run by the state government’s upper house.  Senator James Lack (R-East Northport) had nominated her for the award and she was chosen as a winner by a panel of staffers from several state senators’ offices.  The Stony Brook

Thousands of girls were snatched from their homes by Sierra Leone’s feared Revolutionary United Front rebels and turned into sex slaves during eight years of civil war.  They were forced to carry heavy loads for the rebels by day and raped nearly every night.  According to the Associated Press, exact figures are not available, but the New York-based Human Rights Watch says the raping of women and children during the war was systematic, organized and widespread – part of a rebel campaign of terror that also included maiming and mutilating