The likely consequences of an alleged encounter with a 17-year-old student would radically change Timothy Brightbill's life. ...more

January 3, 2009

A sex offender is responsible for taking away some of the joy of the Postal Service's Operation Santa program: Volunteers who answer children's letters to Santa can no longer deliver gifts in person — or even know where they're going. ...more

December 20, 2008

David Bishop, 43, entered a guilty plea today on three counts of lewd and lascivious behavior involving teenage girls. ...more

December 15, 2008

A homeless sex offender who failed to register in Hillsborough County was seen Saturday afternoon fondling a 12-year-old girl, deputies say. ...more

September 29, 2008

Zackery Hicks has a new home. At least for now. Hicks got out of prison last month after serving a 14-year term for robbery and for a while couldn't afford a permanent residence. He had limited options on where to stay because he is a convicted sex offender, so he spent time camping in a field under a Selmon Crosstown Expressway bridge. ...more

September 20, 2008

Zackery Hicks just got out of prison last month after serving a 14-year term for robbery, and his new prison is marked by the roar of overhead traffic and the danger of getting snakebit or beat up. The situation is the way it is because Hicks is a registered sex offender, and this situation is not all that uncommon in Florida, where the oppressive stigma of being a sex offender is nearly insurmountable. Some cities across the nation have passed laws that are so restrictive, sex offenders cannot reside there. ...more

September 19, 2008

Thirty-two men looking for a good time found themselves on the wrong side of the law last week. ...more

September 17, 2008

BRADENTON -- A man who had sex with a teenage girl was sentenced Wednesday to a year in prison and 10 years of sex offender probation. ...more

July 24, 2008

Schoolteacher-turned-sex-offender Debra Lafave no longer will have to provide Florida Department of Corrections officials her daily schedule, and they no longer will keep minute-by-minute track of her whereabouts. ...more

July 11, 2008

TAMPA If schoolteacher-turned-sex-offender Debra Lafave can make it another day without incident, she will be freed from house arrest. ...more

July 11, 2008