The day the doors to David’s prison cell slid open and he was free after spending five and a half years behind bars for sex crimes against children, he was given a one-way ticket to Ottawa and placed on a bus.
Armed only with expired identification, a little cash earned inside prison and two boxes and a bag containing his few possessions, David arrived in the city with limited prospects.
The challenges he faced reintegrating in society were enormous. There would be hurdles in finding a job and stable housing, securing money and proper identification and abiding by strict supervision rules that kicked in upon his release.
“It had been almost six years,” said David, speaking under a pseudonym to protect his identity. “It was overwhelming. Scary, because you’re coming out into society and it’s open, it’s freedom.”
“So it was difficult at first, but eventually you blend into it.”
The key to blending in, in part, proved to be two smiling women who met him at the bus stop as planned, – his first introduction to a surrogate network of friends and family who wanted to help him rebuild his life, and in the process, ensure he would not reoffend.
They are among more than 50 volunteers with Circles of Support and Accountability-Ottawa, one of 20 CoSA programs across Canada through which 500 volunteers are helping nearly 200 high-risk, high-needs sex offenders reintegrate in society after prison.
“At first I didn’t know what to do. I have no social life,” said David. “There was a bit of boredom, a bit of loneliness, but I was able to talk to CoSA about it.”
Each week, he met with his group of four volunteers to talk about his issues, and spent one-on-one time with each of them by going out for coffee, or watching a movie.
They provided him with friendship and support, referring him to services in the city that could help him.
Positive social supports, experts say, combined with sexual-behaviour counselling and treatment, are key to ensuring former offenders such as David do not fall back into their old patterns, leading to more victims.
After almost a year with CoSA, David seemed to be doing well. He had stable housing at a halfway house for ex-inmates and was taking part in a counselling program there. He had found work.
On Thursday, Joseph Goldstein of the New York Times reported that “Dozens of sex offenders who have satisfied their sentences in New York State are being held in prison beyond their release dates because of a new interpretation of a state law that governs where they can live.” In short, since 2005, sex offenders in the state can't live within 1,000 feet of a school, and a February ruling from the state's Department of Corrections and Community Supervision extended that restriction to homeless shelters.
Because the onus is on sex offenders to find approved housing before they’re released, Goldstein reported, they've been left with very few options, especially in densely-populated New York City, where there are schools everywhere. This has led to an uncomfortable legal limbo and sparked at least one lawsuit (so far) on behalf of an offender who is still in custody even though he was supposed to be out by now.
The unfortunate thing about this situation is that laws designed to restrict where sex offenders can live are really and truly useless, except as a means of politicians scoring easy political points by ratcheting up hysteria. There are many tricky social-scientific issues on which there are a range of opinions and some degree of debate among experts, but this isn't one of them. Among those whose job it is to figure out how to reduce the rate at which sex offenders commit crimes (as opposed to those whose job it is to get reelected, in part by hammering away at phantom threats), there is zero controversy: These laws don't work, and may actually increase sexual offenders’ recidivism rates.
Maia Christopher, head of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, sent Science of Us a policy paper her organization has prepared on this issue (it’s not yet online, but should be later this week). ATSA’s views on housing restrictions for sex offenders are completely straightforward: The group “does not support the use of residence restrictions as a feasible strategy for sex offender management” because of a lack of evidence they do any good.
The paper notes that these laws have proliferated—“[a]t least 30 states and hundreds of cities” have them—because of some basic misunderstandings about how sex crimes are committed. There’s a collective American fixation on the creepy image of a sex offender salivating just beyond the playground fence, but that’s just not how things usually work.
Rather, these crimes are generally committed by someone known to the victim—93 percent of the time when it comes to child victims, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics—and the majority take place either in the victim’s home or the home of someone they know. “Therefore,” the authors write, “policies based on ‘stranger danger’ do not adequately address the reality of sexual abuse.”
Let’s face it, we’re more sympathetic to the plights of some than others.
Lost puppies and sad children rank right up there atop the sympathy scale. And at the bottom.
Well, can you think of a group lower than sex offenders?
It’s a tough sell, but a national conference is meeting this week in Dallas with the goal of making things a little easier for those convicted of sex-related crimes.
Hang on! Don’t stop reading. You may not be brimming with sympathy, but the truth is that the reformers have a point. And this doesn't just affect the sex offenders.
Our laws have become expensive and ineffective. In our zeal to protect against sexual predators, we might even be making things worse.
The national conference of RSOL — Reform Sex Offender Laws — began with a social hour Wednesday night. It gets down to business Thursday through Saturday, meeting at Skillman Church of Christ in East Dallas.
About 125 people are expected. Virtually all of them are like RSOL executive director Brenda Jones. They come because of a personal connection.
“I have a family member still serving time,” she said. “One of the things I promised him is that I would make sure he could have a life when he got out.”
The group’s central message is that sex offender registries have become an enormous burden on the individuals required to register, and they yield no safety benefit for the public.
“There’s no statistical evidence that it’s doing any good at all,” Jones said. “And there’s growing evidence that it could actually be doing harm.”
Those on sex offender registries often can’t find a job or a place to live. It drives many into hiding. The pressures can make those with sexual addictions more likely to offend, not less.
As with most things, this began with a good idea: Law enforcement should know where convicted child predators live. But in our zeal to protect kids, the movement went overboard.
The list was made public. Registry was required for more and more offenses. The result: Texas has almost 80,000 people on its sex offender registry.
“It was sold as a parent having the right to know there’s a predator next door. But the vast majority of the people on that list never touched a child, never had an offense against a child and may not have even had a sexual offense,” Jones said.
Even public urination sometimes ends up as a sex crime requiring registration.
Mary Sue Molnar of San Antonio leads the reform effort in Texas. She is founder of Texas Voices, an affiliate of RSOL.
“Several years ago, my son made some really bad choices. He was 22. The girl was 16,” Molnar said. “He would be placed on the sex offender registry for the rest of his life. He would never be able to serve his time and move on with his life, like any other offender.”
California has almost 100,000 on its sex offender list. And its oversight board wants to make a change. In a recent policy report, the board said:
The California report estimated that local governments spend $24 million a year maintaining the sex offender registry. Yet most people never consult it. And most who do take no action as a result.
Nobody is making excuses here for people who commit crimes of any sort. But if safety is what we’re after, we’re not getting our money’s worth.
Yeah, don't you know that ex-offenders who live near each other are just planning a mass molesting of children? (Being sarcastic)
06/27/2014
By Kaitlin McCulley
CHILTON COUNTY (WIAT) - A man’s dream to rehabilitate convicted sex offenders is coming to an end.
Since 2010, 53 sex offenders released from prison have moved in to trailers in Ricky Martin’s backyard. The property is located at 40 County Road 374 in Chilton County. Of those 53 convicted offenders, 32 are convicted rapists and 21 have been convicted of molestation. 43 committed crimes against children.
Martin pastors Triumph Church, also on his property. Neighbors tell WIAT 42 they do not feel safe in their homes.
Debra Morrison lives next door to Martin and the sex offender camp in his backyard.
“Usually when you go to grandma’s house and you want to go swing on the swing, usually that’s ok,” Morrison said. “But not here.”
Morrison’s young grandchildren are frequent visitors to her home.
“When they come to Nana’s, they know that we’ve got to be with them at all times,” Morrison said. “And they’re scared. There’s always fear, even when we go to bed at night.”
Chilton County Chief Deputy District Attorney C.J. Robinson said neighbors will not have to feel that way much longer. A legislative bill was passed recently, requiring sex offenders in Chilton County to live at least 300 feet apart from each other. The seven remaining offenders living on Martin’s property must leave by July 1st.
“This might be the only chance I ever have as a prosecutor to try to take steps on the front end,” Robinson said. “If there’s something I can do to keep a child from being victimized.”
Morrison is thankful her worst fears have not become a reality. She hopes soon, “Nana’s house,” will be a place of carefree fun.
WIAT 42 Reporter Kaitlin McCulley talked with Martin, but he declined to be recorded on camera for this report and would not answer questions on-the-record. His only comment regarding the sex offenders is this: “I hope they continue their relationship with Christ when they leave here.”
MILWAUKEE - On the eve of a committee hearing about a new sex offender ordinance Alderman Terry Witkowski is taking issue with his fellow council member, Tony Zielinski's, proposal.
"This plan is not a very balanced plan to say the least," Witkowski told CBS 58 investigative reporter Sarah Barwacz.
While Alderman Witkowski says it's important to regulate where sex offender live and hang out, under Zielinski's proposal nearly half of the city's available housing units for convicted sex offender's would be in Witkowski's 13th Aldermanic District.
A CBS 58 News Bottom Line Investigation in May exposed the lack of restriction on where offenders stay.
Reporter Sarah Barwacz broke the story just weeks later about Zielinski, who represents the 14th district, proposing a two thousand feet buffer zone from schools and parks.
When Sarah questioned Witkowski about his district having fewer schools, the council member said that doesn't mean there aren't children around.
"I think you have to look at what's the perception from neighbors here," Witkowski explained. "Are you saying there's less children just because the school isn't within walking distance or two thousand feet? I can guarantee you I got a call from a person indicating that they've got a sexual predator living next door who watches his daughter get off the school bus." - Imagine if we made and passed all laws based on PERCEPTION!
The Common Council’s Steering and Rules Committee meets Thursday, June 12th in room 301-B at City Hall at 1:30 p.m.
Legislation introduced by state Sen. Patrick Gallivan concerning sex offenders makes sense and should be approved by lawmakers. The bill would require the state to notify local municipalities and schools when a sex offender is transferred from a state facility to a community residence or program. The commissioner of the Office of People With Developmental Disabilities would be required to make the notifications no later than 10 days before the transfer takes place.
“The relocation of dangerous individuals to a residential neighborhood is always cause for concern. Local officials have a right to know about the transfer of sex offenders into a community program or residence in their community, so that they have time to properly address public concerns and security issues,” Sen. Gallivan said in a news release.
The bill, S7064, is co-sponsored by state Sen. Michael Ranzenhofer, and has been referred to the committee on Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities.
Such notification would go a long way toward easing concerns such as were raised when several developmentally disabled sex offenders were placed in group homes after the state facility where they had been staying was closed. People living near the state-owned group homes, in West Seneca and Scottsville, were caught off guard.
Notification is important. People do need to know when a convicted sex offender is living in their neighborhood. They also need to assess the level of danger that sex offender poses. Each convicted sex offender is evaluated and assigned a level. Factors taken into consideration include use of force, weapons, alcohol or drugs, the victim’s age, number of victims, assault or injury of the victim and relationship to the victim. Then a judgment is made according to how likely the offender is to repeat the behavior. Those at low risk of repeating the offense are assigned to Level 1; Level 2 is for those with moderate risk; Level 3 are those at high risk of re-offending and who present a threat to public safety.
Knowledge goes a long way toward easing fears and helping people deal appropriately with the situation. A Level 1 offender in the neighborhood is reason for caution, not panic. Sen. Gallivan’s bill would make sure people get the knowledge they need to keep everyone safe.
People should remember, however, that not every sex offender has been caught and conveniently labeled. Children need to be protected from known offenders, but they also need to be protected from offenders who aren’t yet known. In the end, there is no substitute for good parenting and precaution.
SOUTH PORTLAND - South Portland Police Chief Ed Googins said he never wants to ask the question of whether his department could have done more to protect the city’s children. That’s why he is pushing for a new ordinance that would limit where a certain class of sex offender could live within city limits.
At its meeting on Monday, the City Council gave unanimous initial approval to the new residency rules, which would prohibit sex offenders convicted of “serious crimes” – defined as a class A, B or C felony against children under 14 – from living within 750 feet of a school, park, athletic field or recreational facility.
The Greenbelt Walkway, which runs the length of the city, however, would be specially exempted. A public hearing and second reading on the ordinance will be held at 7 p.m. on May 19.
In introducing the sex offender residency restrictions, Googins called them “reasonable and balanced” and said the goal of the new rules is to protect children.
He said South Portland has 26 registered sex offenders who live, work or attend school in the city. Of that group, 10 offenders reside in the city and six are now living in areas that would fall within the proposed sex offender restriction zones.
Googins said any sex offender who has had a prior continuous residence within the areas designated as off limits would be grandfathered if the new rules take effect.
In a memo sent to City Manager Jim Gailey outlining the new residency restrictions, Googins said, “There are significant residential areas of the city, which would not be affected and therefore (this ordinance) balances the interests and needs of sex offenders by allowing ample housing.”
In the memo Googins also said, “I fully understand the impact such an ordinance has, and I strongly believe that these further protective measures (are) necessary to safeguard places where children congregate and (are) a positive step toward improving the safety of our youngest and most vulnerable citizens.”
Once the new rules are in place, a sex offender violating the residency restrictions could face fines of up to $500 a day.
In his comments Monday, Gailey told the City Council that the Maine Legislature passed a bill in 2009 specifically allowing municipalities to put residency restrictions on a certain class of sex offender. Creating and implementing such an ordinance for South Portland, he said, is a top priority of the police department.
Specifically, the new ordinance would prohibit a sex offender from living within “a distance of 750 feet surrounding the real property comprising a public or private elementary, middle or secondary school or up to a maximum distance of 750 feet surrounding the real property comprising a municipally owned or state-owned property that is leased to a nonprofit organization for purposes of a park, athletic field or recreational facility that is open to the public where children are the primary users.”
In the findings and purposes section of the new ordinance it states: “The city promotes and strives to create a safe environment for its citizens to live and raise families and considers the promotion of the safety and welfare of children to be of paramount importance. The city recognizes that sex offenders who prey upon children may have a high rate of recidivism (Studies don't show this) … (and) the city finds that further protective measures are necessary and warranted to safeguard places where children congregate.”
No one spoke against the new residency restrictions during Monday’s meeting, although Councilor Tom Blake did ask Gailey if the city had heard anything from the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine in opposition to the ordinance. Gailey said that as of Monday his office had received no communication from the civil liberties union in regard to the sex offender residency restrictions being proposed.
Prior to the council’s initial vote on the new ordinance, Councilor Melissa Linscott said she’s pleased to see the restrictions come forward and said they were important to have in place.
Mayor Gerard Jalbert agreed and said, “We need tools in place to keep children safe.”
Council favors zoning proposals
In other action Monday, the City Council gave initial approval to a controversial new commercial zone in the Thornton Heights neighborhood, which could pave the way for a new Dunkin’ Donuts store to go up on what is now an undeveloped, city-owned lot at the corner of Main and Westbrook streets.
The vote on the Thornton Heights Commercial zone was 5-2, with councilors Blake and Patti Smith opposed.
The vote followed another lengthy public comment period, during which most of the speakers urged the council not to move the new zone forward.
And, similar to the workshop held on the new Thornton Heights zone last week, members of the Congregation Bet Ha’am synagogue on Westbrook Street were outspoken about the plan.
However, before the vote on first reading, Jalbert said the council is still keeping an open mind about how to best use the city-owned lot, which is adjacent to the synagogue. And he said within the next two weeks there is still time to come up with a compromise solution.
Following the 5-2 vote on the new Thornton Heights zone, the council unanimously approved new zoning for the west end of Main Street that it hopes will lead to reinvestment and new development in that area of the city.
The new Main Street zone specifically prohibits drive-through restaurants, and the council has said it would make the new rules retroactive in an attempt to save the historic St. John the Evangelist Church, located on the corner of Thirlmere Avenue and Main Street, from being torn down by Cafua Management, the Massachusetts-based developer that wants to build a 24-hour Dunkin’ Donuts on the west side of the city.
A public hearing and final vote on the new Thornton Heights Commercial zone and the new Main Street Community Commercial zone is scheduled for 7 p.m. on May 19.
Also on Monday, the council unanimously approved new rules that would allow restaurants, in certain areas of the city, to provide outdoor seating for their patrons under specific guidelines, including requiring the business to get a license from the city and to provide adequate insurance.
_____, 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.”
MUNCIE - A Muncie pastor is seeking the public’s help in trying to find shelter for a small group of convicted sex offenders who are soon to lose their nightly home.
Steve Graves, pastor at Fountain Square (Facebook) and Industry United Methodist (Facebook) churches, said Thursday the men have been told they can no longer stay at a Christian Ministries shelter at 401 E. Main St.
That’s due to state law that forbids those convicted of some sex-related crimes from living within 1,000 feet of places frequented by children. In the case of the Main Street shelter, that would apparently apply to a small downtown park, the Carnegie Library and a daycare facility, Graves said.
“We don’t question the law,” the pastor said, adding he was “baffled” as to why state officials apparently feel they have no responsibility to help the men survive. - If the law is wrong you should question it!
The edict that effective Sunday, the men can no longer stay at the Main Street shelter came not from Christian Ministries, but from state officials.
Graves said he is aware of the low regard many citizens have for convicted sex offenders, and that their proximity can be troubling, especially for families with children.
“But we’re a society that believes in redemption, and second chances,” he said. “We’re still human beings.” - Not anymore!
Graves said because of the stigma of their crimes, the men have difficulty finding work, and that the residency restriction complicates their efforts to find lodging. In recent weeks, weather conditions have made the pursuit of overnight shelter a life and death proposition. - We wonder if that is their goal, to have ex-offenders die?
“Desperate people will do desperate things,” Graves said.
The pastor at first thought as many as eight offenders would be left without lodging beginning Sunday, but four of the men have since found at-least temporary lodging.
That leaves Graves — and those who have come to his assistance, including Paula Justice, Mayor Dennis Tyler’s administrative assistant — two more days to find a place for four men to stay.
Graves is asking anyone with a property that could be used — essentially any structure with heating that would not violate the 1,000-feet restriction — and where cots could be set up to give the men a place to sleep.
The pastor can be contacted at (765) 228-7404.
“They don’t expect the Taj Mahal,” he said. “Just a roof over their head.”
Graves became aware of the men’s plight through a convicted sex offender he met through his church, _____.
_____ was convicted of child molesting in Grant County in 1995. The former Marion resident has since returned to prison for parole violations, and two convictions — also in Grant County, in 2003 and 2008 —for failing to register as a sex offender.
He became a Muncie resident through the efforts of the state Department of Correction, who allowed him to stay at a “DOC Assist” facility — for recently released sex offenders with nowhere else to go — in the Old West End neighborhood. (A DOC official said recently the department was no longer operating any DOC Assist homes in Muncie or Delaware County.)
After his eligibility to stay at the Powers Street house ended, _____ for a time lived under the East Jackson Street bridge. The church congregation later bought him a tent to live in, but this winter has not been conducive to tent residency.
He has done some part-time work at the two churches where Graves ministers, and is hopeful his Social Security pension — for a mental disability — will be restored.
For now, though, his primary concern is having a place to sleep on Sunday night.
“The system is messed up, big time,” _____ said on Thursday.
While Graves’ priority is finding a place for _____ and the other three offenders to stay in the short term, he said efforts must be made to solve the residence issues for offenders on a long-term basis.
“This is a community problem,” said Graves.
The Muncie pastor is no stranger to trying to solve government-related problems — or to dealing with convicted criminals, for that matter.
Before he entered the ministry seven years ago, Graves worked both as an administrative assistant to then-Gov. Evan Bayh, assigned to health and human services, and as a probation officer.
We knew this would happen. Any time the fire gets hot the police, politicians and others scramble to move the offenders out of site again. You can mark our words, another homeless camp will pop up. Florida has been playing the sex offender shuffle for years now.
FORT MYERS - A homeless camp full of sex offenders was found on private property in a Fort Myers neighborhood. Now, they are being told to leave.
The sex offenders were found living in the woods off Veronica S. Shoemaker.
Police say at least six people were living in the woods. Their tents are still up, but authorities say they can't stay.
The property is private. Therefore, the owner asked police to give them trespass notices.
Authorities did just that on Wednesday – giving them until Tuesday to leave.
In the meantime, Animal Services was called to take in two dogs they say were malnourished and in distress.
We were told they have been living there for months. Some of them are registered sex offenders in an area close to parks and homes.
"The sense of having a sex offender there creates a higher level of awareness and a high level of concern for the residents," said Captain Jim Mulligan with the Fort Myers Police Department.
The Homeless Coalition is working with police to try and find somewhere else for these people to go.
Police say if the group is not off the property by Tuesday, they could be arrested.
A camp hidden off Veronica Shoemaker Boulevard is the only place in area some sex offenders have to go
_____ unzipped his pup tent, his abode in a patch of wilderness off Veronica Shoemaker Boulevard in Fort Myers.
He grabbed a flashlight and his ID and stowed them in a book bag hitched over his shoulders.
He was a Boy Scout, he said, but that did not prepare him for this.
“It’s survival of the fittest,” said _____. He is 46, but looks older.
A hammock stretched between melaleuca trees is the most comfy spot for his 250-pound frame. His kitchen is an upside-down grocery cart fashioned into a grill for coffee and soup. A wooden palette is his coffee table.
On this afternoon last month, _____ was in pursuit of a hot meal. He stepped onto a worn path hemmed by slash pine trees. He passed the camps of his neighbors, who reside under makeshift hovels of tarps and tents in this small colony of homeless people.
But this camp is unique: its inhabitants include sex offenders, who said the Lee County Sheriff’s Office directed them to this hidden spot about a quarter mile east into woods that run along a trail. The woods sit across from the city’s Trailhead Neighborhood Park and abut the Sienna at Vista Lake complex of one- and two-bedroom apartments, where on this afternoon young men played football in the parking lot.
_____ had lived there since October. He had struggled to find someone to hire him after five years in federal prison for possessing child pornography. And it was difficult for him to retain jobs because of mental illness.
He said the sheriff’s office showed him the camp location.
“They’re trying to give us a safe haven,” _____ said. “They keep a close eye on us.”
The sheriff’s office refused to comment on the assertions.
Sheriff Mike Scott has directed his personnel not to answer questions from this newspaper. “As you know, we don’t entertain interviews or answer questions with The News-Press,” spokeswoman Tiffany Wood wrote in an email. - Except if it suits them! Police are always having press conferences, etc. But this makes them look bad, so of course they aren't going to speak with the news media.
But Fort Myers police and social service providers said they’ve also been told it was the sheriff’s office that sent them there.
This much is for sure: Law enforcement knows about the camp. Last year, the sheriff’s office tallied about 120 routine calls checking on sex offenders near the intersection where the camp is located, mostly occurring after another camp of sex offenders off Ortiz Avenue was disbanded by city police at the property owner’s request. Since May, at least 10 transient sex offenders and one sexual predator have registered to the camp, records show. Six are currently registered there with convictions that range from sexual battery to lewd behavior toward children, according to a check Friday of Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s sex offender public registry. - So I guess Florida is still playing the sex offender shuffle (Here & Here)?
Offenders can register as homeless without a precise address. The camp meets state requirements, which say that sex offenders can’t live within 1,000 feet from a park, playground, child care facility or school, though last week Fort Myers police said they found a few people living too close to the trail, which qualifies as a park. The sheriff’s office told the police they would move them, police said. - Come on, a trail is not a park!
Over the past years, residency restrictions for sex offenders have grown increasingly harsh across the nation. But the question of where they can live is less easily answered. Yet, it’s one that more Florida cities will have to confront as some experts expect the number of homeless sex offenders to multiply.
“It’s in their best interest to escape scrutiny and go to a place where they have less probability of being identified,” said Duane Dobbert, an FGCU professor in the department of justice studies and author of “Halting the Sexual Predators among Us: Preventing Attack, Rape, and Lust Homicide.” “You can live outside here and you can avoid and evade public scrutiny because we’re a warm climate.”
A 2013 study by four university researchers, “Transient Sex Offenders and Residence Restrictions in Florida,” called for reconsideration of such restrictions. They cited them as a factor in contributing to higher rates of homelessness in sex offenders. It pointed to housing instability as a risk factor for recidivism, which is lower for sex offenses than other types of crimes.
Hop on the Merry-go-round
“When someone has stable housing and a good relationship where they’re with family and supported by the community, recidivism drops dramatically,” said Gail Colletta, president of Florida Action Committee, a nonprofit that advocates for reform of sex offender laws. “We make it difficult for them to get a job and find a place to live. We do everything we can to keep them from being productive citizens.” - Well they need ex-offenders in the merry-go-round prison system so they can continue to rake in the money to keep the prison injustice system alive, and so politicians / organizations can exploit the issue for their own gain as well.
In Lee County, no homeless shelters will accept sex offenders because of children on their properties. But who wants a homeless sex offender in the woods near their home or the park where their kids play? Where can they go and who decides where to put them? - Apparently the sheriff departments decide where to start homeless camps?
“There’s always a solution,” said Dennis Fahey, a criminal justice professor at Edison State College. “But the question is is anybody interested in finding a solution.” - Sure there is, eliminate the residency restrictions, and no, they don't want a solution!
Must report
By law, sex offenders must report to their local sheriff’s office either twice or four times a year. If they don’t have a place to stay, they must report within 48 hours. The Lee sheriff’s six-person sexual offender and predator unit regularly checks to make sure offenders are living where they register. In Lee County, there are about 625 sex offenders compared to 74 sexual predators. Sexual predators have been convicted of a sexually violent offense. There are more than 200 sex offenders in Collier and 25 predators.
The city doesn’t have a specific sex offender ordinance, so Fort Myers Police Lt. Randy Jelks said the police enforce the 1,000-foot restriction.
The camp origins are a mystery to police, who discovered it in the city late last year. - We doubt this, but when you are in the spotlight, play dumb.
“It did raise our concern given the proximity to a park and the proximity to an apartment building,” said Capt. Jim Mulligan of the Fort Myers Police, who has been monitoring it. - So now, just wait and see, since the media has done this report, the Gestapo will come out in force to shut down the camp, and thus the shuffling will continue! Another homeless camp will pop up elsewhere, until the fire gets hot again. Florida has been doing this for years now.
Sgt. Tracey Booth, who is in charge of the sheriff’s sex offender and predator unit, told city police no one in her office has directed the homeless sex offenders to the location, city records show. - We also doubt this. Some ex-offender needs to get this on audio recording to show they know all about this, but we are not sure about the laws on recording someone without their knowledge in this state, but like we said, play dumb when the fire gets hot!
Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman Misty Cash said her agency played no role. She declined to facilitate interviews on the matter but responded to written questions.
“We don’t know how these offenders came to know about this camp. They reported to us their address, which did not violate any local ordinances, Florida Statutes or the conditions of their court ordered supervision,” she wrote. - Didn't you know that ex-offenders are all knowing? They know everything, especially where homeless camps are. Come on, you expect us to believe this? We are not sheeple!
A review of Booth’s emails shows she did wish to keep the location quiet from the city. - You just got burned!
On May 28, Sgt. Booth wrote Sgt. Roger Valdivia of the Fort Myers Police about a Fort Myers lieutenant ordering sex offenders off Ortiz to relocate.
“Its (sic) incidents like this that is the reason I want to work together,” Valdivia responded.
The next day, Booth sent an email to a detective in her unit, Stuart Foreman, asking if everyone had been relocated. - Yep they are still shufflin'!
“City will be having Code Enforcement, enforcing a ‘no camping within the city limits’ ordinance. So we will have to see what happens to the new location,” she wrote. “I will not be advising the city of the new location.”
Her email included a list of four offenders at the camp with this description: “living in the wooded area approximately ¼ East of the Trailhead fire station on Veronica Shoemaker.”
Foreman replied: “I’d hate to move these guys again, it’s a real pain in the $%^.”
In a later email, she instructed her unit to “show” a soon-to-be transient offender to his new address in the woods, which later appears as the camp off Veronica Shoemaker.
Fort Myers Mayor Randy Henderson called on law enforcement agencies and city and county leaders to cooperate on a better resolution than using a specific area as a “dumping ground.”
“That’s a bigger issue we need to come together and solve,” he said. “It’s impossible to overdo oversight on this.” - It's real easy to solve.... Get rid of residency restrictions!
“What’s not an option is moving them around like a checkerboard.”
Prison release
_____ emerged from the camp onto a trail frequented by bikers and walkers. He crossed the street toward the park he steers clear of because it’s against the law for him to enter and headed south to catch the bus to the Salvation Army for a meal.
After his April prison release, _____ stayed at Char Ann-Juanita apartments in south Fort Myers, one of the few places that accepts sex offenders, according to social service providers. But he could no longer pay the rent. One October morning, he remembers visiting the Lee County Sheriff’s Office to inform the sex offender unit he was going to be homeless. He was ready with a tent, tarp and few bags of clothes.
They told him he could go to the camp off Veronica Shoemaker, he said, and escorted him to an opening in the brush.
“Probation office isn’t really thrilled about this but that’s where the sheriff’s office put me so it legally allows me to be here,” _____ said.
No matter how people feel about sex offenders, he pointed out that they still need housing and services to help them rebuild productive lives after their convictions. - Then like we said, exterminate the residency restrictions!
“How strenuous do you have to make something before a person just wants to climb in a box and put the nails in themselves?”
(Earlier this week, _____ was arrested for violating his probation, which called for him to find work, a stable home and show up to regular appointments.) - How can you find work when you are homeless and do not have transportation? This just shows how the merry-go-round system works, they need people in and out of prison to keep the money flow going!
There’s no extra state requirements for homeless sex offenders, according to FDLE. The sheriff’s office does have homeless sex offenders sign a letter saying Lee County has no designated land for them and that sex offenders and predators living on undeveloped private property have 45 days to obtain a certified letter stating that they have permission to be there. But some guys have been on the spot longer.
Trespassing signs
Around December, Fort Myers police began contacting property owners of the wooded area about erecting no-trespassing signs, which they need before they can permanently oust the offenders. The bulk of the land belongs to a land-holding company, Serena Park LLC, which was contacted by the city. Mike Kerver, the company’s vice president, expected to have the signs up soon.
Once the signs are up, police plan to give the offenders a few days to pack and will work in tandem with an advocate for the homeless to try to help them. - So the police put them there, fires get hot, now they are going to kick them out? Stay tuned for encampment #2 coming soon....
“We’re trying to balance everybody in this,” said Mulligan. “I know people don’t like sex offenders in their neighborhoods. They’re not anybody’s favorite.” - You are just trying to put out the fire. If the media never said anything about this, then this homeless camp would still be there, but that's just our opinion of course.
But, then what happens? There are scant places for sex offenders to legally live apart from the woods, the south Fort Myers apartments that accept sex offenders and pockets of Lehigh Acres, the local administrator for the Department of Corrections told The News-Press in 2012. The department declined a recent interview request. Mapping of sex offenders’ locations show they reside in pockets throughout Lee County. - They live in the woods and in clusters due to the residency restrictions! Eliminate that and the problem will surely vanish, or a huge dent put into it! But hey, we can't look "soft" on sex offenders now can we?
Local social service providers could not offer housing options for homeless sex offenders and neither could the state’s homelessness director.
“It’s hard to get people to come forward to help that group of people and want to establish housing, but it is a public safety concern,” said Janet Bartos, executive director of the Lee County Homeless Coalition.
Nonprofit organizations do provide food, counseling and outreach to homeless sex offenders.
“There’s not an easy answer because of the background that they have,” said Ann Arnall, director of Lee County human services. - So why don't you hire a night guard to watch the place while everybody sleeps?
“There’s not a high level of sympathy either. If somebody is going to start a program, who is going to support it?”
This week, on an afternoon of welcome sunshine, Priscilla Morley flipped through a magazine at a Trailhead Park picnic shelter. Morley was unaware of the camp just a walk away.
“It’s a concern because this is a park for kids,” said Morley, 40, a nurse. “As long as they don’t come into the park, I’m OK. You just have to watch your kids from anybody.” - You should do that in the first place!
Ohio has about 250 former prisoners — two-thirds of them sex offenders — who are homeless but still under state parole-authority supervision.
The lack of address hampers compliance with laws designed to keep officials and the public informed about where sex offenders live.
Spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said that while the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction works to find places for offenders to live when they are released, that’s not always possible, particularly with sex offenders who are notoriously hard to house.
One of them is _____ of Franklin County, who will be homeless when he is scheduled to get out of prison on Feb. 16. Officially, _____’s address will be 53 E. Main St., 2nd floor, Logan, Ohio — the Adult Parole Authority office.
_____, 41, spent more than nine years in prison for three felony counts of gross sexual imposition and one count of abduction involving a teenage girl.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said he was surprised to receive notice about the upcoming release of _____ — whose victim was a relative — without anywhere to track him.
“He is subject to registration upon release, and even though he is being released to Hocking County, the purpose of Megan’s Law and the Adam Walsh Act is to know where sex offenders reside,” O’Brien told The Dispatch.
“A release by the parole board in either a post-release control or to parole (someone) ... to (a parole) office doesn't accomplish that purpose. I always understood a parole plan contemplated a known residence, but apparently that is no longer the case.”
_____’s is not an isolated case.
Smith said when an inmate’s sentence expires, the state cannot keep him locked up, even if he has no place to go. The agency works cooperatively with local law-enforcement officials to keep track of released offenders, she said. They are required to report regularly to their parole officer as long as they are under state-mandated supervision, which can last several years.
David Berenson, the prison agency’s director of Sex Offender Services, said housing for released sex offenders is “a huge problem in every state. Researchers are looking into it, at what might be more effective laws. But there’s really nothing substantial. A lot of them are homeless because they've burned every bridge.”
State statistics show that just 11 percent of released sex offenders return to prison on sex charges, compared with the overall recidivism rate of 28.7 percent in Ohio.
Columbus victim advocate Brett Vinocur, who tracks released offenders and inmates up for parole, said homeless sex offenders are common.
“The system failed the citizens of Ohio,” he said. “These guys are just being dumped, putting sex offenders on the streets. I've seen them living under the bridge, living on the side of the road.”
But Vinocur does not blame state prison officials for the problem. Instead, he lays it at the doorstep of state legislators who changed state laws in 1996 to eliminate indefinite prison sentences in favor of flat sentences, in the process reducing time served for a variety of crimes, including sex offenses.
A House committee easily passed a bill, 18-1, prohibiting restrictions on where sex offenders can live yesterday, noting that judges have twice ruled residency restrictions unconstitutional. Still, lawmakers predicted a tough fight in the Senate, which has rejected similar bills before.
“There is a perception that this bill is being soft on crime,” said Rep. Steve Vaillancourt, a Manchester Republican who voted for the bill. “All of us who have heard (this debate) know the benefits of the bill. But we’re going to need to explain it.”
Rep. Al Baldasaro, a Londonderry Republican, cast the lone vote against the bill, saying he didn’t want to tell his constituents they couldn't determine where sex offenders could and could not live.
As many as 11 communities have residency restrictions for sex offenders, said Rep. Renny Cushing, a Hampton Democrat. Londonderry is not one of them, according to the town’s website. Locally, Tilton, Northfield and Boscawen have such restrictions. Both Northfield’s and Tilton’s ordinances prohibit people convicted of sex crimes against children from living within 2,500 feet of schools, child-care centers and playgrounds. Boscawen’s ordinance was not available yesterday.
Tilton adopted its ordinance in 2007 and added this explanation to it: “Acknowledging that sex offenders who prey on children are at a higher risk of re-offending, the town of Tilton has a compelling interest and responsibility to protect the health, safety and welfare of its children by restricting access to areas where there (is) a high concentration of children.” - Once again a law passed based on lies and not the facts. Recidivism among sex offenders is lower than any other criminal, except murderers.
However, two judges have found otherwise. In 2009, a district court judge in Dover ruled that city’s residency restriction invalid because the city had not shown a “substantial relationship” between the ordinance and the protection of children. In 2012, Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Larry Smukler came to the same conclusion when the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union appealed Franklin’s ordinance.
Cushing, a member of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, said the bill prohibiting residency restrictions is necessary because it will take costly legal fights to undo the 11 ordinances still in place across the state. “The simple thing that can be done is to pass a bill that incorporates the . . . courts’ decisions.”
Cushing also argued that restricting housing for sex offenders pushes them “underground,” in campgrounds, under bridges and to other places the police cannot monitor. He said communities are safer if the police know where sex offenders live and require yearly registration with the local police.
Baldasaro said he was concerned that if a sex offender moved into a Londonderry neighborhood, “everyone else wants to move out.” He added, “I want to support this bill, but I have to go back to neighborhoods in my district. Who is going to protect the neighbors?” - It is not up to the government or police to "protect" anybody, it's their job to enforce laws and respect the Constitution and the rights of others, not pass unconstitutional laws to help themselves look tough!
Rep. Larry Gagne, a Manchester Republican, responded to Baldasaro.
“My first term, I was pretty much a hard-liner,” he said. “I said, ‘Put (sex offenders) in outer space. Put them all on an island.’ But I changed my mind after a (police) sergeant came in and said, ‘If they go underground, we can’t find them.’ ”
Rep. Roger Berube, a Somersworth Democrat, questioned why the state Senate has rejected several similar bills from the House in previous years. “How can they get away with that?” he asked. “It doesn't appear the Senate is actually listening to the . . . court.” - And it appears you are not obeying your oath to defend the Constitution and the rights of others!
To that, Rep. Laura Pantelakos, chairwoman of the committee said, “Sometimes the Senate doesn't listen to anybody.”
State Department of Correction officials say they are no longer sending recently released sex offenders to Muncie houses
MUNCIE - The Indiana Department of Correction is no longer operating "DOC Assist" homes in Muncie's Old West End neighborhood.
The Star Press reported last June that two adjacent homes in the neighborhood — at 927 S. Elliott St. and 612 S. Elliott St. — for the past two years had been used by the DOC as temporary housing for recently released sex offenders from 11 Hoosier counties who had nowhere else to go.
Concerns raised by the article prompted a sometimes heated meeting last July 24 involving DOC employees, local officials including Mayor Dennis Tyler and Delaware County Prosecutor Jeffrey Arnold, and Old West End residents.
Those living near the houses said they were unhappy they had not been told about the "DOC Assist" program — or the proximity of sex offenders to their families. Tyler, noting the Muncie houses were the only such facilities in the 11-county district, said he didn't want the Old West End viewed as a "dumping ground" for offenders.
In an email exchange with The Star Press on Friday, Victoria Fafata, supervisor of the DOC's 11-county New Castle Parole District, confirmed there were no longer "DOC Assist" facilities in the Old West End, or elsewhere in Muncie or Delaware County.
She also said there were no such houses for recently released offenders in Blackford, Henry, Jay or Randolph counties.
Brad King, president of the Old West End Neighborhood Association (Facebook), said Friday that "neighbors in the area feel bit of a relief," but said they were also concerned about "residential opportunities, job opportunities and support networks for the paroled sex offenders in Muncie and Delaware County."
King, who moderated the July meeting with DOC officials, said it was "never the intention of the neighborhood association to shut down this housing opportunity, but to make sure everyone was aware, safe, compliant with the law and situations like this were as transparent as possible."
Tyler on Saturday said he was "really happy for the Old West End residents."
"I know they felt like a dumping ground," he added.
The mayor said communities have a responsibility to provide opportunities for those released from prison, but said having Muncie as the destination for so many out-of-county sex offenders had troubled him.
The Indiana Sex and Violent Offender Registry would make it appear the Old West End — with general boundaries of Franklin Street to the east, White River to the north, Kilgore Avenue to the west and the railroad tracks to the south — still has what many would consider more than its fair share of released sex offenders.
The registry map shows 29 such offenders living in the neighborhood, but the registry's accuracy has been questioned. Offenders are shown living at the addresses at which they most recently registered, and in some cases are listed as still residing there years after they have departed.
The registry still shows nine offenders living at the Powers and Elliott houses. However, at least four of those felons have returned to prison, and three others are apparently the targets of arrest warrants. (The owner of those houses, Calvin Gilliam, at times continued to rent those apartments to offenders who were no longer participating in the "DOC Assist" program.)
The vast majority of offenders listed as living in the Old West End were convicted of sex offenses outside of Delaware County, and in some cases, out of Indiana.
For example, of five offenders listed as living in the same apartment house in the 700 block of West Jackson Street, only one was convicted of a sex crime in Delaware County. The other four were convicted, respectively, in Elkhart, Hamilton and Wayne counties, and Michigan.
Authorities have suggested some felons have settled in the Old West End in part because it for the most part lacks facilities — including schools, parks and daycare centers — that some sex offenders are prohibited from living near.
Please click the link above and take the poll as well.
11/06/2013
LITTLE ROCK - After serving their time, some sex offenders can be on another list for the rest of their lives.
Convicted sex offenders are required to register with their local law enforcement office for at least 15 years, often much longer than that.
Now some registered sex offenders and their families are saying this branding is doing more harm than good.
"Sam," a registered sex offender who asked to have his identity concealed, calls every day a battle.
"No sooner did we move and the house was getting egged," he says. "They spray-painted on the porch that I need to move. Why keep attacking me?"
Another registered sex offender we'll refer to as "C," says he sees the same struggles.
"Two kids in the area accused me of fondling them," C says. "You want to crawl into a hole and you're afraid."
The Arkansas House of Representatives passed legislation earlier this year prohibiting level three and four sex offenders, considered the most likely to re-offend, from swimming areas and playgrounds in state parks.
They also can't live within 2,000 feet of any school, day care, public park or youth center.
These men say the restrictions, along with the sex-offender stigma, make it nearly impossible to find a steady job and safe place to live.
"Sir, many of our employees are going to be uncomfortable with your working here, so we're not going to be able to hire you," C recalls hearing from a prospective employer.
Spouses of sex offenders say these restrictions also tear apart their families, frequently hurting the most vulnerable.
"I can't tell you how many times my daughter has come home crying because children told her she shouldn't be allowed to live with her dad because he's a rapist," says Carrie Moore, who is married to a registered sex offender.
"It's been really hard. We live in a mobile home," Lynn Gilmore says. "We will never have the American Dream."
Lora Morgan, Director of Arkansas Time After Time, works with legislators to change sex-offender laws, saying current laws can force an offender to commit other crimes just to stay on their feet.
"So a sex offender, they might have done 5, 10, 15 years in prison, then once they got out, the day they're released, that's when their 15 years starts on the public registry," Morgan says. - We are not sure, but we believe the 15 years starts once the person is off probation / parole, not once they get out of prison.
University of Arkansas-Little Rock professor Dr. Tusty ten-Besel says there are some misconceptions about sex offenders.
"Previous research has shown us that less than 10 percent will actually commit another sex crime," she says. - Recidivism studies.
Dr. ten-Bensel is interviewing registered sex offenders to also find out if current law and rehabilitation programs are working effectively.
"If these laws are helping, 'Wonderful,' that's what we'll say. If it's not, then maybe we need to go back and revisit these laws to make it more effective," she says.
It may be years before all the information for her research is gathered, but the offenders we talked to say whatever it shows, life on the list will likely never change.
"We are the low-hanging fruit on the trees," C says. - Sex offenders are today's scapegoat! No other ex-felon has to register for life and told where they can and cannot live.
Are sex offender laws prohibiting convicted men and women from becoming a productive part of society? - Take the poll at the link at the top of this article. Our opinion, YES!
Advocates say living restrictions could keep communities safer
COLCHESTER - Sex offender laws do not do enough to protect our families, say advocates for both victims and sex offenders.
Vermont's laws governing convicted sex offenders are more lenient than neighboring states, including New Hampshire and New York.
Offenders can pretty much live wherever they want as long as they're not on probation or parole: that includes next to schools, playgrounds and day cares. - And that is how it should be! Residency laws do nothing to prevent crime or protect anybody and study after study has been done to show it does basically nothing except prevent registrants from getting homes, jobs, support, etc, which could put people in potentially more danger from those who are prone to committing new crimes.
They're required to register, but only for a set amount of time, and even then the public doesn't know exactly where they are.
The Chittenden Unit for Special Investigation is out in Essex, hunting down addresses and knocking on doors, for their yearly sex offender registry checks.
Their stops take them past schools, parks and other areas specially designed for children. - But not all registrants have harmed a child, so the one-size-fits-all law is unconstitutional, in our opinion.
“A sex offender should stay away from areas where there are children if he's attracted to children. They should stay away,” Pastor Pete Fiske said. - Registrants who are attracted to children (pedophilia) are rare, not the norm!
Fiske runs the church at prison and a religious treatment and reintegration program for all types of convicted criminals, sex offenders included.
He's working with recently released sex offender _____ -- imprisoned for handcuffing and sexually assaulting a young boy he met on the banks of a river in Southern Vermont.
After public outcry in Vermont, _____ tried to live in California, but the move sparked outrage from the mayor of San Francisco.
In a letter to Gov. Peter Shumlin, Mayor Edwin Lee says he's writing about a matter of "deep concern" and accuses the Vermont Department of Corrections of not notifying authorities of _____'s move, something Shumlin disputes.
Now _____ is back in Vermont, living in Hyde Park, just a mile or two from local schools.
“I think that if there are ways that we can help make the community aware, and if we can help protect the community, that we should take any steps possible,” Hope Works Executive Director Cathleen Wilson said.
Wilson works with sexual assault victims and agrees with Fiske, restricted living on a case-by-case basis, particularly when the crimes involve children.
“I think that would make a lot of sense. I think that would be a good step, quite honestly,” Wilson said.
It's something the city of Rutland already has: sex offender dwelling restrictions but only for those with crimes against children.
Despite those recommendations, Vermont Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito still says enforcing zoning limits isn't the right move for sex offenders, arguing they'd be pushed out into rural areas without any treatment programs or law enforcement.
“When you start to enact sex offender zoning regulations, you start to drive people who have high risk out into areas where you really can't keep an eye on them,” Pallito said.
Rutland Mayor Chris Louras says that's not the case.
He says the guidelines help make his community safer and that sex offenders don't have a problem finding a home.
It's a similar system to the one Barre Mayor Thom Lauzon tried to put in place in his city, too, but the measure was stopped by a judge.
“As we sit here talking today, there are extremely high-risk offenders who have simply served their time and maxed. So they're no longer required to have treatment and they're no longer supervised by the Department of Corrections, and in those cases, I do think it's important to place restrictions, if you're on the registry,” Lauzen said.
The state of Vermont has considered creating statewide restrictions, but in the end, Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington) and other lawmakers decided against housing guidelines in favor of creating tougher penalties and the possibility of lifetime probation for sex offenders.
“We made a lot of steps to try to keep, particularly, kids safe, but Vermonters in general, safer from sex offenders, and I think as we worked on the bill it was general agreement based on what other states had experienced with residency requirements, that that would not help,” Sears said.
Right now there are only four sex offenders who will be monitored for life. They were initially sentenced to a maximum of life in prison and were released.
As for those sentenced to probation for life, the Department of Corrections doesn't track that information, but the director of field services said he believes there are likely "not many" on that list.
AUGUSTA - Sex offenders are the only type of criminal with their own registry so the public can keep an eye on them, so they must be the most likely to commit more crimes, right?
Wrong.
Contrary to the seemingly widespread public perception that sex offenders are more likely than other criminals to commit another crime, state and national statistics show that sex offenders are less likely to commit another criminal act than other criminals.
A 2010 study (PDF) by researchers at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service found “sex offenders had statistically significant lower rates of return to prison for a new crime than other offenders at one, two, and three years after release from prison.”
The study found that 4 percent of sex offenders were returned to prison within one year of their release for any new crime, compared to 7.1 percent of other offenders. Sex offenders were returned to prison for committing new crimes after two and three years at rates of 8.8 percent and 15 percent, respectively, compared to 15.1 percent and 21 percent for all other offenders.
However, the same study noted sex offenders were much more likely to end up back in prison than other criminals for committing, specifically, another sex offense.
“Sex offender return rates for sex offenses at one, two and three years were .7 percent, 1.8 percent, and 3.8 percent, which were 14, 18, and 38 times higher than the return rate of other offenders,” according to the report (PDF), “Sexual Assault Trends and Sex Offender Recidivism in Maine.”
Police Chief Robert Gregoire said he was not aware of any reoffenses by sex offenders in Augusta.
Nor was Kennebec County Sheriff Randall Liberty aware of reoffenses by sex offenders in the county.
Mayor William Stokes, who is also deputy attorney general and head of the criminal division of the Maine attorney general’s office, said sex offenses tend to be of more concern than many other crimes because of the nature of the offense.
He noted he’s seen data indicating some sex offenders, specifically those who commit criminal acts against children, have a higher likelihood of engaging in such acts again than other criminals.
“That’s why they have the sex offender registry, and you don’t have a registry for burglars and other criminals,” Stokes said. - And even though sex offenders have a lower recidivism rate of any other criminal, they continue to pass draconian laws to further punish those least likely to re-offend? Yeah, that makes since... NOT!
Scott Landry, superintendent of Maine Correctional Center, said some sex offenders are at higher risk of offending, more so than both other sex offenders and other criminals. He said those higher-risk offenders are monitored more closely upon their release, and have more requirements to maintain close contact with their probation officer, and, often, a sex offender therapist.
“Not all sex offenders are of equal risk to reoffend,” Landry said, noting when someone who is 19 years-old and has a sexual relationship with someone who is 15, the act is still illegal, but the offender is likely less a risk to reoffend than more severe offenders.
Augusta landlord Larry Fleury, who owns 23 rental properties in Augusta with 170 units, rents to more than a dozen sex offenders in the city.
Fleury said in the 31 years he has rented out apartments in Augusta, he hasn’t had a tenant who was a sex offender commit another sex offense.
“We looked at recidivism rates and found they’re actually less likely to reoffend than people who’ve done other types of things,” Fleury said.
National data also appears to contradict public perception that sex offenders are more likely to commit new crimes than criminals who commit non-sex offenses.
A 2003 federal Bureau of Justice Statistics study of recidivism of more than 9,000 male sex offenders in 15 states released from prison in 1994 found they were less likely to commit new crimes than the 260,000 non-sex offenders released that same year, but more likely than them to commit new sex offenses.
Within the first three years of their release from prison, 24 percent of those sex offenders were reconvicted of a new criminal offense, versus 48 percent of other, non-sex offender criminals over that same time period. - But that isn't new sexual crimes, it's any new crime, and most of the time it's a technical violation.
However sex offenders were four times more likely to be arrested for a sex crime than other offenders, according to the federal study. Within the first three years following their release, 5.3 percent of sex offenders were rearrested for a sex crime, while only 1.3 percent of non-sex offenders were arrested for a sex crime.
