____ ____, 37, a war veteran and double amputee, was receiving the home mortgage-free, courtesy of the Military Warriors Support Foundation’s “Homes 4 Wounded Heroes” program. The charity worked in conjunction with the home’s most recent owner, Wells Fargo bank.
Getting a house is no small deal. Getting one for free, in a settled and safe neighborhood in small-town America, is even bigger.
____, 14 years after he was maimed by a landmine in Iraq, was ready to begin the next chapter of his life among the families of Stuarts Draft. Television news covered the event. Press releases went to area media.
But after researching a detail about the press release, The News Leader quickly learned via Google something that neither the non-profit nor Wells Fargo had discovered. The man they were about to permanently embed in a neighborhood full of families and children was a convicted sex offender who had sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl, according to Wisconsin court records.
That revelation set in motion a process that led the charity to rescind the home offer. Full Article
Certainly a forgiving bunch.
Wow, still he IS being continually punished and admonished and banished from society and NOT FORGIVEN after years of given his time for his conviction and they believe NO REHAB works and he is a THREAT???
Its a challenge for a double amp to go and grab kids or groom them? what else does this new entity do besides look for negatives, and THANK(F.Y.) YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE, we can’t give you a house near all these families cuz you’ll polute it with STRANGER DANGER and SO many uneducated unfactual FEAR FACTORS in place that Wells and recent owner didn’t fear and do UNTIL ‘The News Leader’ TV station?
found on Google, boy Google is Gospel isn’t it? and STOPPED the help he needed to get back on his…
chair and a place to call his own, but RC’s are most ALWAYS denied in an HOA vote, gifted homes including low income and almost ALL APARTMENT OWNERS/MGMT Companies that manage them do prior to rentals.
D E N Y A L L R C ‘ S THAT FOLLOW THE LAW and register the right to rights from the Constitution to live in a safer dwelling and own a home since they can’t rent an apt, especially from SafeRent or other ONE SIZE FITS ALL credit check and SO Check automatically with scoring and DENIAL without explanation nor trial or
chance to give info like…How Many Years ago it was, nor what was done to Rehab and be forgiven and ?
I’m absolutely incensed over this. This guy, a combat veteran, lost two limbs for his country and this is his Thanks? What next, a campaign to revoke his VA benefits and yank off his prosthetics? These are some real effing bastards that outed this poor soul and I wish the worst upon them and theirs.
Any injured combat veteran should receive free housing, meals and happiness for life!!!
Just to be clear here: He gave his service and his legs and he’s still not good enough to receive housing??? Wow.
“This was an unfortunate situation and we intend to work with the nonprofit to ensure controls are in place so a mistake like this never happens again.”
OH, God forbid! We wouldn’t want to be involved with THOSE PEOPLE again. That would be BAD PR for our foundation! We have to implement a screening process to cover our collective asses from now on.
You see.. it doesn’t matter how many lives you’ve saved serving your country. because the label “sex offender” discredits and de-legitimizes and circumvents ALL THAT. That “hero” narrative was not relevant anymore once they discovered him on the list.
Thanks for your service, but we’ve discovered your troubling past and we’re reneging on the house.
Good luck staying warm on the streets!
Still think it’s not punishment??
While the Veterans Administration cannot deny him medical benefits for his wounds suffered in combat, they certainly can make it so he’s not buried in a military affiliated cemetery or receive any sort of Veterans Administration headstone over his grave when he is buried.
That’s as of last few years when that guidance became published. It incensed quite a few veterans and their families because it also drug and those who had already retired or had been honorably discharged from the military.
God forbid that a sex offender should ever live in a house! In a neighborhood! Where children also live! Or that a sex offender should ever be allowed to set foot inside a school! The level of fear-driven ignorance on display in this article is astounding, if not surprising.
More proof that it doesn’t matter who you are today. Everything you’ve done in your life amounts to Nothing. If you have the label your life is forfeit. All will bow to the Registry. And if you’re on it…God help you.
How A Morally Disabled Charity Bowed To Ignorance
Why in hell would I support “”Homes 4 Wounded Heroes” or “Wells Fargo bank”? ever?
Emailed to author:
Brad-
The style of the article itself was well put together. The article does seem to be a bit biased, maybe for the ‘sensationalism’ aspect to gain readers.
I suggest to keep things fair in Journalism, since journalists, as most don’t know any better (or do so intentionally), refer to people with a sex conviction a a “Sex Offender”, that you rightfully and fairly refer to people that are homosexual, as “A Gay”, or “A Homosexual”. For example, your article written a few short decades ago, when people hated another group in this ‘Free Country’, would read:
“How a charity for disabled vets almost gave a Homosexual a free home in Stuarts Draft”
Readers intended reaction: “Phew! Thank God they didn’t end up doing that! He almost slipped through the cracks. We need a better screening process.”
It would only be rightfully fair to “Label” people in a “Free Country”, wouldn’t it? Of course, how could it be a “Free Country” in any remote sense of the word if people are continually punished after “serving their time” or “paying dues to society”. Seems like those were all lies now that we consider this case.
It is plausible to consider that if this amputee knew thought about how this country treats people that it doesn’t like from time to time (Blacks/Gays/Sex Offenders), he may have thought twice before ‘defending’ it and all of its ‘Wonderful Freedoms that it gives to every citizens’ or so it claims.
The same emotions that most of the uneducated (on this subject) public gets when reading this article of yours, are the same emotions that 40 years ago they would have had if the same article was written and the word “Sex Offender” was changed to “A Homosexual”.
The journalists ought to write a few articles about the prevalence of that show in the 2000s called “16 and pregnant”, or those countries with a legal consent age of 14. Odd how the media tends to pick-and-choose which people they make-out to sound like monsters, isn’t it? I am sure they could write endless articles about countries with a legal age of consent being 14. Isn’t everyone there a Monster? There would be article material every single day for years! A country full of sex offenders that rape these clueless children. Odd how a “clueless child that had no say in the matter” is 16-18 in one country, and 14 in another, isn’t it? It’s almost like, these laws are not universal, such as the universal and understood-everywhere-laws such as “don’t murder/physically harm/steal”.
Food for thought. Have a nice day.
Best Regards
I am an SO from a 2003 pornography conviction. My marriage did not survive the ordeal but I have shared custody of my children, am a local business owner, own my home, generous with my community (donating my time and/or money). I’m a good father and a good friend to those around me. While I believe this is a great way to live and makes me feel good about myself, I also hope that people around me will see me for who I am and now what I’ve done. However, when I read an article like this, I fear that nothing we do now will ever be good enough to be accepted.
When will the punishments (we know that’s what they are) stop piling up? How many articles are on this site about our travel limitations? No facebook or instagram. In some areas, you cannot be at or near a park or school (which makes taking your kids to school another issue). What employment opportunities are out there? Even as a now successful business owner, my local Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, etc do not want me as a member. God forbid there is a national disaster and instead of going to the evacuation center I’m supposed to surrender at the local jail? I won’t be able to coach my kid’s sports teams, lucky enough if I’m even allowed to attend. Politics is out of the question. Forget about joining clubs, obtaining professional certifications, or visiting a sick friend at the hospital (yes, hospitals are now running a background on visitors!).
If a purple-heart earning, double-amputee, community-volunteering former US Marine cannot be shown some human decency, those of us just humbly trying to survive day-to-day don’t have a chance.