CRANSTON, R.I. (WLNE) — Cranston East High School hosted a forum Monday night that many feel is long overdue, about a growing list of unwanted neighbors for those who live along Roosevelt and Pontiac Avenues.
“With Cranston being the receiving community of not only sex offenders but now the criminally insane, our residents need to be aware of it,” said Rep. Robert Lancia.
Since 2012, the sex offender population at Harrington Hall on Howard Ave has been steadily growing–now hovering around 30.
“If you go hang out with your knitting buddies, you’re probably going to talk about knitting. If you’re out with people who like baseball, you’re probably going to talk about baseball. What does anybody think the sex offenders are hanging out talking about? It’s not baseball,” said Kerri Kelleher, who helped organize the forum.
“If you go hang out with your knitting buddies, you’re probably going to talk about knitting. If you’re out with people who like baseball, you’re probably going to talk about baseball. What does anybody think the sex offenders are hanging out talking about? It’s not baseball,” said Kerri Kelleher, who helped organize the forum.
She’s probably correct. Former sex offenders are probably not talking about baseball. They’re probably talking about where they can find a job or a place to live. I know several registrants who also enjoy knitting.
If you go hang out with your knitting buddies, you’re probably going to talk about knitting. If you’re out with people who like baseball, you’re probably going to talk about baseball. What does anybody think the sex offenders are hanging out talking about? It’s not baseball,” said Kerri Kelleher, who helped organize the forum.
What a load of BS from this organizer
Wow, what an incredibly poorly written article full of fear, misinformation, and absolutely insane logic.
You know what I talk about with other RCs? How hard life is being an RC. And if they’re my friends, then we talk about a million different things like friends do. We don’t gather together and discuss how we can offend again. That’s usually people in specific places before they’re caught. You know, that random Joe with a spotless record. The one that non of these after-the-fact laws protect from. Where 95% of all future danger comes from.
No one wants to talk about being a sex offender. Unless we are forced to in therapy, it’s not something any of us want to talk about with anyone. And we’re certainly not going to talk to another sex offender about wanting to commit another crime. Those people are all living there because they have no where else to live. Unlike the knitting group that are together just for the purpose of talking about knitting.
End the registry and they’ll disperse. These same people don’t realize they’re to be blame. I say this because they would be the first to say there needs to be a registry! Well you got it. I hope your home values plummet!
1.) The Article was crap, if you google the person making the statement is a school committee reject, lol even the committee believes she’s way out in left field.
2.) Pack up and move?! Where, its life, accept the fact that because of a stupid law you will know that SO’s are within a few miles of every house you choose to rent/buy.
3.) Lol, sorry but the only things I discuss are rebuttals to ignorant people that are in 1.) and 2.) of this comment.
There is a registry for those that have completed their time, parole and therapy and has shown over time to have very low recidivism rates yet the mentally ill? Not so much. I am in a unique position not only as an RC but also as a father of a mentally ill 35 year old son. I stood before the Orange County Supervisors on Nov. 14, 2017 in support of our homeless that are mentally ill in the name of being a hairdresser as well as a RSO. I presented under public comments as the second speaker at time placement (scroll to) 39:25…
http://ocgov.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=4&clip_id=2946
“If you go hang out with your knitting buddies, you’re probably going to talk about knitting. If you’re out with people who like baseball, you’re probably going to talk about baseball. What does anybody think the sex offenders are hanging out talking about? It’s not baseball,” said Kerri Kelleher, who helped organize the forum.”
I would not want to call such people misguided morons, because they just don’t know any better. It’s just sad to see so many US citizens brainwashed by fear-mongering. The only people who are doing well from the brain-washing are the politicians, prosecutors and the ever-expanding Prison Industrial Complex. However, these citizens should still take some blame for such moronic thoughts, because they have enough IQ in their brains from birth to notice that we do NOT have an epidemic of rapes and violent sexual acts in the USA. We have an epidemic of VIOLENCE in this country, lack of MORALS or just general not giving a damn about someone other that oneself. The biggest problem affecting other humans in our society is dumb parents raising their kids to behave badly to others. How about parents raising their kids in a healthy environment and not into a world of drugs, abuse, violence, poverty etc? That kind of horrible upbringing does MUCH more damage to children, their lives and society rather than what a “SEX OFFENDER IS THINKING”. God forbid this country actually ADMITS that most issues start with the family, parents and upbringing. That is a ‘hush hush’ topic because it might hurt someone’s feelings and require inner-reflection which may be uncomfortable. Such a tragedy. There are a MILLION more problems that affect people more, and cause death, than what ‘sex offenders’ are thinking about. One of those harmful acts to start with, is placing labels on people such as ‘sex offender’. The amount of psychological harm this causes hundreds of thousands of people on the registry and their families is MASSIVE compared to the ‘discomfort’ someone feels because they are near people who were convicted of an offense they believe is ‘very scary’.
to: jkrinjak@abc6.com
Hello Mr. Krinjak,
It bothers me that you and the residents of Cranston fear sex offenders. Your article is full of myths promoted by the media, such as yourself, that just are not true. 95% of new sex crimes ARE COMMITTED by those close to their victims; by close, I mean family members, teachers, law enforcement, church members, etc. And conversely, 95% of registered sex offenders DO NOT EVER commit another sex crime.
The residents of Cranston (or anywhere for that matter) can’t move away from the danger that they themselves impose.
Here’s a few studies that may be of interest to yourself and all of society:
https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/press/rsorp94pr.cfm
https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/09/11/no-easy-answers/sex-offender-laws-us http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0886260514526062 https://ofm.wa.gov/sites/default/files/public/legacy/sgc/sopb/meetings/board/2015/10/research_outline.pdf
https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/024_hanson_decl_11.7.12.pdf
There is very little chance of a stranger assaulting your children and even less chance for a registered sex offender to do so.
PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE PROMOTING MYTHS AND LIES.
Regards,
[me]
Another quite interesting fact: your children and their children have a bigger chance of committing a sex crime than being the victim of one. Think about that!