“Sex Offender Trailer Park” sounds like either a great horror movie, a middling rock band, or a horrible sitcom. In real life, neighborhoods like that do exist, because of a problem society has no goddamned idea how to solve. In many cities, laws keep registered sex offenders from living anywhere near where children gather, which means there are only tiny areas where they can live. We talked to James, who owned a trailer park that became known as a haven for the people society would prefer not to deal with at all.
Laws Against Sex Offenders Have Created An Unexpected, Stupid Problem
Most of you probably don’t disagree with states banning people on sex offender registries from living anywhere children hang out (and if you do, you probably don’t say so in public). Those laws are in theory reserved for those supposedly most likely to reoffend, including violent sex offenders and child molesters, while a bunch of caveats and sub-clauses spare people who aren’t as much of a threat to society, like 18-year-olds who dated 16-year-olds. The laws leave a bunch of parents sleeping easier. But how do they work in practice?
I was very fortunate to find an apartment complex to live in. And guess what, the manager found a very productive business secret: RSO’s make outstanding tenants. The management freely rents to SO’s and there are many in the complex, and guess what? It is the quietest place I have ever lived, there is zero crime, and everybody keeps to themselves. I have gotten so comfortable I have forgotten to lock my car at night and even my front door one summer night. Everybody here works and is grateful to have a place to live, everybody is respectful and takes… Read more »
what city and state are you in
bedause i am a rso and looking for a place to live
Where are you located at
City and State
Isn’t Cracked about a notch above the National Enquirer on the prestige meter? Can’t tell if it was an op-ed or a fear mongering piece. Anyway, reading all those comments gave me a headache, as they were typical of the public’s ignorance on this subject.
I found this article interesting because I moved to a trailer park, a couple years later SORNA screwed us all, I was doing a lot of research trying to find a way off the registry but there was no way off. I found articles out of California with the terrible residency restrictions, the people building tiny parks to force an SO out of their home, that was wrong in all aspects, I also read something about this family lived in a trailer park who was forced out of their home because a resident reported them to the management firm that… Read more »
Brian, you are not being paraniod. While its possible that they may feel SOME guilt/remorse, you should still proceed with caution and be very careful. A pain, but good for you for documenting everything AND throwing everything away that they have given you so far.
I bought and moved onto a small trailer park a 3 years ago because when you go down on a charge like this and you don’t have assets or help from relatives you face poverty or the streets. Now I know the meaning of “trailer trash”, and there have also been some RSO’s come and go – got arrested and run back through the system for whatever reason I don’t know. Almost everyone here has some kind of criminal history. There always kids running around the place and I am very careful to avoid having too much to do with… Read more »
i bought a trailer in 1992 and before i could move in went to prison, so my mom and siblings moved in, when i got out in 1994 i moved in to my trailer, they { parole officer} never in came to check it out first, hell the two years i was on parole i think i seen my P.O. twice that whole two years, i even stopped dropping and testing for drugs after a month in a half. So anyway i lived in that trailer park for 15 years with no problems and the cops never checked on me… Read more »
LS
Thank you, glad I’m not completely loosing my mind then. I will continue to do this until I move or they move.