Source: cbsnews.com 3/27/23 HAMPTON, Pa. (KDKA) – Violent sexual predators are living just steps away from playgrounds and elementary schools right here in our area. It’s a common yet false belief that sex offenders can’t come close, or live close, to our kids. “Anyone in Pennsylvania should be thinking about this issue, especially if they have children because there are a lot of schools and daycares in Pennsylvania, and this could be happening anywhere.” There’s actually nothing to stop sex offenders from coming too close for comfort. Currently, Pennsylvania is…
Read MoreTag: Residency Restrictions (SORR)
RI: Many people in the leadership of Warwick, Rhode Island see no benefit from the residency restrictions
Source: warwickonline.com 3/23/23 Although the news might not sit well with some parents, the Warwick Police Department says that the elimination of residency restrictions for Level III sex offenders does not pose a danger to students at local schools. “I do not believe that the elimination of the 1,000’ law will add any more risk to the community,” said Chief Bradford Connor. A 300-foot restriction was introduced in 1996, which was expanded to a 1,000 foot radius in a law approved by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Gina…
Read MoreRI: Federal judge rules sex offender residency law is unconstitutional
Source: turnto10.com 3/17/23 A state law that makes it a crime for Level 3 sex offenders to live within 1,000 feet of a school was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge on Thursday. The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island challenged the statue when it was first enacted in 2015, and it’s been subject to a preliminary injunction barring its enforcement since then. Currently in Rhode Island, state law says sex offenders are barred from living within 300 feet of a school. In the wake of Thursday’s ruling, it…
Read MorePA: Can you Ban Sex Offenders from Your Association? NO
Source: jdsupra.com 1/23/23 Lake Naomi Club, Inc. v. Rosado, ___ A.3d ____ (2022, Penn). Issue Can a private, planned community adopt a restrictive covenant that prohibits lifetime registered sex offenders from residing within that community? The Facts At Pocono Pines’ 2013 annual meeting, residents raised concerns about a sex offender who was living in Lake Naomi. Accordingly, on March 30, 2016, Pocono Pines (“Association”) amended its Declaration to provide that no registered Tier III sex offender “shall occupy or reside in any [l]ot, dwelling, or common area within the boundaries of”…
Read MoreWA: Amid Uproar Over Tenino Sex Offender Housing, Lawmakers Work on Bill to Prevent Similar Situations
Source: chronline.com 1/22/23 State lawmakers are working on a bill to prevent situations similar to the opening of a new home for individuals convicted of sexually violent offenses in Tenino that has surprised, worried and angered many area residents. State Sen. Drew MacEwen, R-Shelton, and state Reps. Dan Griffey, R-Allyn, and Travis Couture, R-Allyn, are writing legislation that would close a public notice loophole allowing private operators to house violent offenders in low-security adult group homes with minimal notice and assurance of adequate community protection, according to a news release. …
Read MoreCA: Release of Sex Offender Into Community Is Blocked
Source: metnews.com 1/10/23 The release of a sexually violent offender into a community following an involuntary hospital confinement after he served his prison sentence can be blocked by setting up the home schooling of children within close proximity to where the former inmate is scheduled to reside, the Sixth District Court of Appeal has declared, over a dissent. At issue is Welfare & Institutions Code §6608.5(f) which provides that “a person released under this section shall not be placed within one-quarter mile of any public or private school providing instruction…
Read MoreSC: Stepdaughter of Shield Ministries director fights against his sex offender rehab plans
Source: abcnews4.com 12/29/22 Walterboro residents are coming together to keep registered sex offenders out of their neighborhood. Shield Ministries, a nonprofit organization, is planning to open their third treatment center at a vacant church campus in Walterboro. In Shield Ministries’ 2021 annual report, 70 percent of their applicants are registered as sex offenders. Neighbors say that has them worried for their children. “When parents can’t let their children go out to their yard and play because of fear, what quality of life is that?” asked Kevin Lyles, a resident who…
Read MorePA: Scranton ordinance on where registered sex offenders can live remains contrary to court decision
Source: wfmz.com 12/17/22 SCRANTON — At 17, Zachary Pluko saw his future in the military or law enforcement. At 29, the vision is a memory. Pluko works at a Turkey Hill store to cover the monthly $600 rent he pays for a room on Moir Court. He and six other residents of 839-841 Moir Court mostly keep to themselves but they all share something in common: they’re registered sex offenders. Their residence, about 940 feet from a school, is contrary to an unenforced Scranton ordinance that remains part of the…
Read MorePA: After a registered sex offender moves near the Hampton Township school, the mother wants to change state laws
Source: localtoday.news 12/7/22 Flyers distributed by Hampton Township Police Department informed parents and people living in the Central Elementary School area that a registered sex offender had moved nearby. Community notification is required under Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law, but the law does not limit where an offender may live. After learning that this individual lived less than 1,200 feet from where her three children study and play during recess, Katie Wymard set to work to try to change the law. “They’re on break every day and it’s literally in his backyard,”…
Read MoreFL: Gainesville commissioners vote to allow sex offenders to live closer to schools, day cares and parks
Source: wuft.org 12/5/22 The Gainesville City Commission passed an amendment Tuesday that allows people convicted of sexual offenses involving children under age 16 to live closer to schools, day care centers and parks, reducing the prohibited radius from 2,500 feet to 1,000 feet. The amendment also establishes a cut-off date that was previously not recognized by the City of Gainesville, meaning people convicted of this offense before the ordinance was first adopted in 2005 no longer have this restriction on where they live. With these changes, the ordinance now matches…
Read MoreAZ: Scottsdale adopts new anti-registrant rules for short-term rental property operators
Source: ktar.com 11/7/22 Scottsdale became the latest city to approve of new rules aiming to better guide short-term rental owners and properties. The new requirements include obtaining a Scottsdale license for each property, organizing sex offender and background checks on booking guests and … Read the full article
Read MorePA: Appeals court rules private housing development cannot bar sex offenders
Source: mdjonline.com 10/31/22 A state appellate court ruled a private housing development does not have the right to entirely ban registered sex offenders from living within their community. Ruling in a Monroe County case, the state Commonwealth Court said a 2016 restrictive covenant in the Lake Naomi housing community in Tobyhanna Twp. runs afoul of a state regulations that control where registered sex offenders can reside. The case has statewide implications because it marks the first time a state appellate court has addressed whether private homeowner communities must abide by…
Read MoreCanada: Small Yukon First Nation bans sex offender using its COVID emergency law
Source: ctvnews.ca 10/11/22 WHITEHORSE — A First Nation of fewer than 300 people in Yukon’s north has used a law it created during the COVID-19 pandemic to bar a convicted sex offender from being sent to its community. The Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation in Old Crow issued a declaration under its Community Emergency Act banning Christopher Schafer from the fly-in community nearly 800 kilometres north of Whitehorse for at least the next 90 days. Chief Dana Tizya-Tramm said Yukon’s territorial court decision to allow Schafer to live in Old Crow…
Read MoreTX: More than a dozen sex offenders in Lamesa ordered to move
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/YP25XUFCMVBXPLKOYBU7J4LSDI.png)
Source: kcbd.com 10/6/22 LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – More than a dozen registered sex offenders are living too close to children, that’s according to the Lamesa Police Department. The chief of police confirmed that 19 residents received notices stating they were in violation of the city’s code of ordinances. Eugene Gaspar is a registered sex offender who said the department gave him 90 days to move, or face a fine of up to $500 a day. Gaspar said the notice came as a surprise because officers at the Lamesa Police Department…
Read MoreFL: Gainesville city commissioners consider changes to city’s sexual offender ordinance
Source: mycbs4.com 10/6/22 Gainesville, FL — Gainesville City Commissioners passed a motion to craft a proposed amendment to the current Sexual Offender and Sexual Predator Ordinance in place to mirror the state statute. “I think it just makes a consistency and so it’s legally defensible. You know, that we’re not sort of afield of what is already accepted through the courts and through the upheld state practices and just creates that predictability and consistency,” City Mayor Lauren Poe said. The City of Gainesville’s ordinance adopted in 2005 is similar to…
Read MoreHow to Get a Sex Offender Out of Your Neighborhood
Source: truthfinder.com 9/14/22 One where they don’t have to be concerned when their children go to play outside. But it’s hard to know who all your neighbors are. You may be inclined to background check your neighbors. You never know, there might be individuals with a criminal history on the block, including people who commit sexual assault and other sex crimes. Many parents can’t help asking themselves, “What do I do if I live next to a sex offender?” One thing you do is worry. Another is to constantly keep…
Read MoreIN: ‘We don’t want you here’ Sheriff says over 1,800 sex offenders live in Marion Co., 52% aren’t from here
Source: wrtv.com 8/24/22 INDIANAPOLIS — There are more than 18,000 sexual or violent offenders living in Marion County, more than half of which were convicted and sentenced from out-of-area, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. As part of the office’s efforts to drive down the number of sex offenders in the community, the sheriff’s office conducted a sweep Wednesday morning near Brookside Park. The Sheriff’s Office says 34 registered sex offenders live within a half mile of there. “That is a ridiculous number to be in that neighborhood,” said…
Read MoreWI: The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has restored a lawsuit over Hartland’s limit on sex offenders
Source: jsonline.com 8/12/22 A small Wisconsin town’s attempt to ban more sex offenders from living there flunks one of two tests that would make it unconstitutional, a federal appeals court has ruled. The decision sent the matter back to a lower court for argument about the second test, and whether the local law should be thrown out. Hartland adopted an ordinance in 2018 after it felt it had more offenders per capita than other Waukesha County communities. A sex offender who wanted to move there sued, claiming the ordinance amounted to an…
Read More