WI - Freed, but still in jail: New limits on sex offenders leave them in care of sheriff

Original Article

So he's done his time but because he couldn't find a place to stay, behind bars, he will remain behind bars? That is just so wrong!

02/08/2014

By Stephanie Jones

RACINE - _____ is supposed to be free. He’s not.

_____, a convicted sex offender, served his time and was supposed to be released from the New Lisbon Correctional Institution on Jan. 28. He was released on schedule, but his release was not to freedom. It was to the Racine County Jail. There was nowhere else for him to go.

“It was a rather depressing situation,” he said about finding out the jail was his only housing option. “All I wanted was a place to live.”

Municipal ordinances have become so restrictive on where registered sex offenders like _____ can live in the county that state officials have directed the jail to hold him. It’s not clear how or when he’ll get out.

This is a new problem resulting from recent sex offender ordinances and it’s concerning, said Lt. Dan Adams of the Racine County Sheriff’s Office.

No options

In early January, _____, 59, was planning on moving into a transitional residence in the 2100 block of Racine Street in Mount Pleasant. Then those plans changed when the Mount Pleasant Village Board passed an ordinance Jan. 13 greatly restricting where sex offenders can live. That ordinance came on the heels of similar ordinances passed in Racine, Sturtevant and Caledonia.

Mount Pleasant’s new ordinance effectively eliminated the home _____ had lined up, which is near a church.

“That was the last oasis,” Adams said about the Racine Street residence. “Then the ordinance passed. Now we are in this predicament.”

It’s not an issue that other released prisoners face, he said, because they have alternative shelters where they can stay that sex offenders cannot.

Staying at the Homeless Assistance Leadership Organization shelter also is not an option for sex offenders. Because families and children stay at the shelter, they don’t accept sex offenders except for particular circumstances such as if there is an 18-year-old who had a relationship with a 17-year-old, said Stephanie Koeber, HALO’s family program and child care director. She didn’t know offhand of any other place that will take sex offenders now.

“It’s definitely a population that is underserved,” she said.

Past mistakes

_____ doesn’t try to justify the mistakes he made, he said. When he committed his first offense in 2000, he was living in Indiana with his wife and five children. He used to write articles for the Elkhart Truth’s sports department, he said, and he owned his own business that sold new and used equipment to fire departments.

Then he started an online relationship with a person who he thought was a 14-year-old boy, he said. He drove from Indiana to Racine County to meet the boy at the McDonald’s by Interstate 94 at 13343 Washington Ave. It turned out it was an undercover agent, and _____ was taken into custody.

Years later after he was released from prison for that crime, he ended up arrested again in 2007 after he was caught looking at a website at the Racine Public Library called “Barely Legal.” He said it turned out some of the photos were of teens under 18. He admits it was a stupid decision, although he claims he thought they were adults.

What’s next?

Now, after being released again, _____ is on extended supervision and he has a GPS monitor on his ankle, which he said he may have to wear for the rest of his life. His first goal is to find a job so that he can afford housing, he said Thursday while seated at the Department of Corrections Division of Community Corrections office in Sturtevant, with a notebook filled with possible job leads.

That is where he spends the day for the most part. _____ said his day starts with breakfast at the jail, then he gets a packed lunch and is transported to the Sturtevant corrections office, where he spends time looking for jobs until he is transported back to the jail before dinner. He is required to return to jail each night, Adams said.

Joy Staab, a spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, said for sex offenders who warrant special notifications to law enforcement, the current policy is to “utilize jail in lieu of homelessness.”

This is a statewide policy, she said, although she did not know if it is occurring anywhere else outside of Racine County.

“As a result of local ordinances restricting where sex offenders can reside, housing options can be very limited for sex offenders,” she said.

Another man at jail

According to the Sheriff’s Office, one additional sex offender in _____’s situation also has been housed in the Racine County Jail since Tuesday. Both men are listed in jail online records with their “hold reason” as “homeless sex offender.” It’s not clear how long the offenders will have to stay in jail, Adams said. The state will pay for the jail stays, he added. “I think there is some concern about what comes next,” he said. “There has to be some alternative solution because I don’t think this can be sustainable.”

In the two weeks since _____ was released from prison, he hasn’t had any luck finding work, he said. Until he gets a job, he doesn’t know how he will be able to afford rent, he said, and with the transitional facility no longer an option, he is not sure when he will be able to finally spend a night outside jail.

If he had money in the bank, possibly he could find someplace that the ordinance would allow a sex offender to live. But he doesn’t, and he is not sure where he could find housing.

“I’m not trying to look for sympathy. I don’t expect that,” he said. But he said, “I did my prison time. Give me an opportunity. Allow me to try to put my life back together.”

See Also:

• (02/25/2014) Homeless sex offender given temporary housing

WI - Sex-offender limits debated

Dumping ground

Original Article

02/05/2014

By Mark Schaaf

MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS WONDER WHETHER COUNTYWIDE ORDINANCE WOULD WORK

RACINE COUNTY - With restrictions on where sex offenders can live in place in some Racine County communities but not in others, county officials have begun discussions on a residency ordinance that would apply to the entire county.

A few challenges emerged in initial talks, including the fact that every Racine County municipality would have to agree to the ordinance — no easy task if the proposed county restrictions differed with local ordinances already in place.

The county also needs to address who would enforce the ordinance — whether it would be the Sheriff’s Office or local police departments — and the state Department of Corrections has raised concerns that it would drive sex offenders to homelessness, making them more difficult to track.

But Mount Pleasant Village President Mark Gleason, who also serves on the County Board and has pushed for a countywide ordinance, said passing the law would ensure no community becomes a “dumping ground” for sex offenders.

The idea has generated interest among Racine County community leaders, Gleason said, as it would create a “level playing field” across the county.

He and other Mount Pleasant officials spoke Tuesday to the county Government Services Committee. No action was taken as the county’s corporation counsel and other departments continue to examine the issue and compare local ordinances.

“We’re at that first stage of finding out whether or not this is an option for the county,” Gleason said.

Mount Pleasant passed an ordinance last month prohibiting sex offenders from living near any place children gather, including schools, parks, day care centers, athletic fields, playgrounds and churches. The minimum distance they must live away from those places is 1,000 feet or 2,500 feet, depending on the category of the offender.

The village approved its rules mostly because Racine, Caledonia and Sturtevant put restrictions in place that were driving sex offenders to Mount Pleasant, police Capt. Brian Smith told the committee.

“What we were seeing in Mount Pleasant was the fact that these men, who were sexual predators preying on young kids, all of a sudden being dumped in our community,” Smith said.

Whether a countywide ordinance would prevent that from happening in other communities is still to be determined.

Burlington Mayor Bob Miller said he is leery about countywide restrictions. The city enacted an ordinance a few years ago restricting sex offenders from living near places such as parks, schools and churches, but it would be moot if a countywide ordinance is passed.

“I would have to see what the proposal ends up being or somehow be involved. Sometimes these one-size-fits-all laws don’t really work that well for everybody,” Miller said. “If Racine has a lot of offenders and we don’t have that many and we end up with their offenders coming here, I got an issue with something like that.”

Waterford, meanwhile, does not have an ordinance on the books. The village researched and reviewed the issue several years ago, but the Village Board decided not to move forward.

Waterford is only 2-1/2 square miles, which makes it challenging to find parameters for restrictions, Village Administrator Rebecca Ewald said.

She said she couldn’t comment on a possible countywide ordinance until seeing it.

WI - Town leaves lights on near sex offenders' homes

Original Article

10/12/2013

By Peter J. Devlin

Despite an effort to remove streetlights that no longer serve their original purpose, the Brussels Town Board Wednesday voted to not remove two from poles in the Kolberg area where a convicted repeat sex offender resumed residency two weeks ago.

Two men, who would not give their names for this story, said they were very concerned about the presence of the registered sex offender in their community because of the number of children who live in close proximity.

The unnamed sex offender was released from prison last month after completing a sentence on a conviction of having sexual contact with a child under the age of 13, Town Clerk JoAnn Neinas said.

“Instead of taking streetlights out, we should light the place up,” said one man, who said he lives next door to the offender’s residence and has grandchildren who visit frequently.

The other anonymous speaker at the meeting said he lives directly across County D from the offender’s residence and has younger children.

Town Chairman Joe Wautier said that although the town adopted an ordinance in 2008 requiring convicted sex offenders to locate substantial distances from any place where children gather, the town can’t enforce the law in the current instance.

The ordinance would prohibit any offender from establishing residency within 2,500 feet of a park or other places where children gather, including places of worship. Emmanuals Lutheran Church is located near the offender’s residence.

But because the offender listed his current address with the State of Wisconsin in 1999, “he’s grandfathered in,” Wautier said. “We got the letter from the town’s attorney saying we can’t do anything as a town.”

The offender “told the parole officer he’s looking for a different place,” the town chairman said, “but when I drove through there, I see they’re fixing the place up.”

The two neighbors claimed the property was owned by a relative, disputing the offender had actually lived at the address before his recent release.

“No, not living there,” Neinas said. “Registered with the Department of Corrections. Registered as a sex offender.”

In addition to voting to leave the two streetlights in place in Kolberg, the board also voted to leave in place another light near another registered offender’s residence.

The board did vote to remove 11 other lights that are situated at locations where long-closed taverns and stores were once located.

Supervisor Joel Daoust estimated the town would save more than $2,600 each year while retaining 34 lights, each costing about $20 per month.

Federal and State Laws Aim to Keep Tabs on Sex Offenders

Original Article

10/07/2013

By JANET RAASCH

When it comes to treatment of convicted sex offenders, Americans and the American justice system are very concerned. Sex offenders are seen as targeting the most vulnerable populations, especially women and children. They are often subject to longer prison terms and closer supervision once released than other kinds of offenders.

Currently, there are about 747,500 registered sex offenders in the United States. About one-third of these individuals are currently under close supervision, in prison or jail, in halfway houses or on probation. The rest have returned, unsupervised, to the community.

Low Rate of Recidivism

While in the criminal justice system, convicted sex offenders are required to undergo an array of treatments intended to deter them from re-offending. As a result of incarceration and treatment, only 5.3 percent of all sex offenders re-offend upon release (although those convicted of violent offenses re-offend more often). This rate is much lower than the rate for all other categories of convicts.
- Many more recidivism (re-offense) studies here.

Nonetheless, citizens want to make sure that they and their children are protected against the perceived danger of convicted sex offenders. Offenders who have exited the criminal justice system want to return to a normal life. These goals are starkly opposed.

Sex Offenders Must Register

In the United States, there are a variety of sex offender registration and notification systems. Generally, sex offenders are required to register with law enforcement of any state, locality, territory or tribe within which they reside, work and attend school.

The U.S. Congress in 1994 passed the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, which required all 50 states to maintain a registry of sex offenders’ addresses so that their whereabouts would be known to local law enforcement agencies. Concerned residents can consult these registries.

Registration ranges from 10 years to the convicted sex offender’s lifetime. Recent legislation in some states requires that offenders also reveal their email addresses, chat room IDs and instant-messaging aliases. In some states, offenders must wear ankle bracelets as long as they are registered.

Communities Must Notify

“Megan’s Law” in 1996 amended the Wetterling Act to allow for community notification. This mandated that law enforcement personnel proactively disclose registry information to neighborhood residents about sex offenders who live in close proximity. Landlords must include information about how to use the registry in their lease documents.

Some states notify the public only about sex offenders who pose a high risk to the community, but others employ broad notification practices and distribute information about all registered sex offenders. Community notification strategies can include press releases, flyers and door-to-door warnings about the presence of sex offenders.

Recent developments include the mandate that states sponsor Internet websites listing convicted sex offenders and, via the 2007 Adam Walsh Act, the establishment of a national online sex offender registry that allows a search beyond state borders.

Under the Adam Walsh Act, registered sex offenders must avoid by 500 to 2,500 feet all schools, bus stops, gyms, recreation centers, playgrounds, parks, swimming pools, libraries, nursing homes and places of worship.