A judge has reduced the risk-level classification of a sex offender after finding his evaluation ran counter to a state Court of Appeals’ ruling on grading the dangers of violators who possess sexual images of children they do not know. Suffolk County Court Judge Barbara Kahn (See Profile) agreed with the contention of offender James McElroy that he deserved a lower classification because he had no prior relationships with the children whose images he possessed.
Judge Kahn wrote in People v. McElroy, 02061-2011, that the Court of Appeals’ ruling in People v. Johnson, 11 NY3d 416 (2008), highlighted the sometimes inappropriate allocation of negative risk-assessment points against offenders possessing child pornography. In fact, the Court of Appeals held, some offenders were given higher risk classifications than their criminal activities justified simply because they possessed multiple sexual images of children, even though the offenders had never met their “victims.”
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