2-5-2008 Florida:
Fearing a return to prison amid a state push for him to find a new home, a sexual predator on probation allowed the battery on his ankle monitor to run down and fled a camp beneath the Julia Tuttle Causeway early Monday.
The Florida Department of Corrections confirmed Monday evening that Antonio Cannon, 30, fled the makeshift camp under the causeway after numerous visits by parole officers during the last week.
The officers were distributing forms to the residents, all registered sex offenders, indicating that living under the bridge may violate state or local ordinances.
The future of the remaining sex offenders under the causeway was no clearer Monday than it was last week, when they were first given notices by the state Department of Corrections that their living arrangements may put them in violation of their probation.
A 9 a.m. Monday target for clearing out the causeway's underside came and passed with little change. However, six of the 19 men who had been living there had moved on, said Gretl Plessinger, a state DOC spokeswoman.
''The others have been asked to report on what progress they've made in finding another place to live,'' she said. She said there was no firm deadline to vacate the camp, but the men were told to leave by Feb. 1 or begin trying to find new homes.
Any bridge squatters who refuse to make the effort could be found in violation of their probation, she said. ``But that would have to be an extreme case.''
''Unfortunately, a lot of these offenders are misinformed,'' Plessinger said. She added that although DOC is actively trying to move the offenders from under the bridge to more permanent residences, ``no one will be violated simply for being homeless.''
Cannon, whose criminal record dates to 1997 and includes cocaine distribution, marijuana possession, resisting arrest, grand theft auto and armed robbery, evidently feared otherwise. He was convicted on Dec. 10 of attempted sexual battery on a minor under 12. He served no time for the felony but was tagged as a sexual predator and given 10 years' probation.
Plessinger said a statewide law enforcement alert has been issued for him.
The causeway men were allowed to live beneath the bridge by the DOC as a response to Miami's 2005 ordinance banning sex offenders from residing within 2,500 feet of any school -- a law that left few options for housing for them. But DOC has since urged the men to sign forms acknowledging that they must make other living arrangements. For most of them, the only alternative housing is outside Miami-Dade County.
''I'll have to move out to where the crocodiles are in the Everglades,'' said causeway resident Alejandro Ruiz, 67. Ruiz said he was convicted of lewd and lascivious behavior in 2006. He readily admits his guilt today, saying, ``I touched the girl.''
The crackdown on convicted sex offenders' unusual living arrangement began last month in Broward County; a small group of offenders who were camping under the Oakland Park Bridge were given ''no trespassing affidavits'' by the Department of Transportation, which owns the bridge.
''We anticipated something like this could happen with the men under the Julia Tuttle, and we're trying to be proactive,'' Plessinger said.
DOT spokesman Brian Rick said Monday his agency had no plans to evict residents from the causeway.
He said the DOT will ``work closely with DOC as they assist offenders in relocating to a residence that complies with terms of their probation as well as state laws and local ordinances.''
. In contrast to the county, the state requires only that sex offenders live at least 1,000 feet from a school. ''We know there are few places left in Miami-Dade,'' Plessinger said.
In Florida, fewer than 50 convicted sex offenders on probation are listed as homeless, she said.
The American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement Monday afternoon saying it is sending a letter to Gov. Charlie Crist urging him to direct the state Department of Corrections to find suitable lodging for homeless convicted sex offenders.
''Living under a bridge is not suitable lodging and requiring people to live under a bridge is cruel and unusual punishment,'' Jeanne Baker, state board president for ACLU of Florida, said in a press release. The organization is also urging Miami-Dade and the cities of Miami and Miami Beach to reconsider their 2,500-foot residency ordinances.
''Now that they have seen the real impact of these hastily drafted and ineffective laws, the effect of which does not protect the children of our community but only creates homeless citizens,'' Baker said. ..more.. by DAVID QUINONES AND LUISA YANEZ
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