NH- Sex offender seeks ordinance exemption in Dover

7-30-2008 New Hampshire:

DOVER — Registered sex offender Richard Jennings is asking a judge to exempt him from the city's sex offender ordinance while his legal case against the ordinance is being resolved.

Under the city's ordinance, registered sex offenders can't reside within 2,500 feet of a school or day care center and Jennings' Locust Street address is located about 1,200 feet from My School Kindergarten at 118 Locust St.

District Court Judge Stephen Morrison took Jennings' motion under advisement following a hearing at Dover District Court on Tuesday afternoon, but said before he left the bench that he was unlikely to rule in favor of it.

Jennings attorney, Barbara Keshen of the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union, filed the motion last week asking the court to allow Jennings to live at 175 Locust St. upon his release from prison on Friday.

The NHCLU is asking the district court to throw away the ordinance and rule it unconstitutional. A hearing on that matter is scheduled for Nov 10 at 9 a.m.

Keshen said during Tuesday's hearing that moving to another location would create a severe financial hardship to Jennings, his fiance and her daughter.

"Mr. Jennings' offense didn't involve young children, it involved an individual just under the legal age," Keshen said. Keshen also referenced the fact that Jennings and his fiance, Janice Sessler, have been together for eight years.

Jennings, 41, was convicted in May 2000 on a charge of felonious sexual assault on a minor.

Keshen also argued that Jennings is considered a low-risk sex offender and it would be a waste of time for him to move, claiming the city's ordinance is likely to be found invalid.

"Cases have come down since I filed the original motion that seem to indicate that we're standing on very solid ground and that Mr. Jennings will prevail," Keshen said.

Keshen referred to a recent case in New Jersey where similar ordinances were struck down on the grounds they were pre-empted by state law.

Dover City Attorney Allan Krans said allowing Jennings to live on Locust Street would be ruling against the ordinance before the hearing to determine its constitutionality even took place and would open Dover up to an onslaught of sexual offenders who would move to the city looking to take advantage of that.

"They're (Jennings and Keshen) right, there will be a severe hardship, they're absolutely right, but it's not on Mr. Jennings. Its on the children and the citizens of Dover," Krans said. "The children will have a sex offender within 2,500 feet from their schools, without a hearing."

Jennings also never legally lived at 175 Locust St., so why should he be allowed to live at the residence, Krans argued.

"At best he had a technical residence is Dover, at worst he comes to court with his hands so unclean, it boggles the mind," he said.

Jennings moved to the city from Portsmouth at the end of 2007 and was arrested in November and charged with felony-level failure to register as a sexual offender for not notifying police that he moved from Portsmouth to Dover. That's also when police charged him with the ordinance violation.

He was arrested again in April for also living at the Locust Street address and not registering with city police. Jennings had claimed he was living with his parents in Epping, but several neighbors tipped police off about Jennings still living at the address, which led to police performing surveillance in the area.

As a result of the latter charge, he was sentenced to six-months at the Strafford County House of Corrections, which expires Friday.

Sessler, 47, was also charged in April for allegedly harboring Jennings while police tried to arrest him. She recently agreed to plea guilty to a charge of hindering apprehension.

While leaving the bench, Morrison said he would consider all factors but admitted that it's unlikely he could rule against the ordinance because currently there is no presumption that it's unconstitutional.

A decision on Jennings' living arrangements is expected later this week. ..News Source.. by AARON SANBORN