FL- Sex Offenders Still Call Miami Bridge Home

11-11-2008 Florida:

MIAMI -- Despite being told to leave almost a year ago, several sex offenders are still calling the Julia Tuttle Bridge home.

In March 2007, Local 10 learned that sex offenders were living under the bridge by order of their probation officers.

In late January and early February 2008, more than a dozen sex offenders were told they had to leave, although corrections officials said they were not given a deadline.

A local ordinance in Miami-Dade County requires sex offenders to remain at least 2,500 feet from areas where children are known to congregate. State law requires a 1,000-foot buffer zone.

But sex offenders who have been released from prison said they cannot find a place that is not within the 2,500-foot mandate.

Local 10’s Kellie Butler recently spoke with Darryl Jackson, a sex offender who told her he has been living under the bridge since being released from prison on Dec. 18.

Jackson said the size of the makeshift camp under the bridge has grown in recent months. According to the Department of Corrections, 26 sex offenders are still living there.

A spokeswoman from the Florida Department of Corrections said as long as the sex offenders can show their probation officers they are trying to find another place to live, they will not be in violation.

She added that being homeless is not illegal. ..News Source.. by Local10.com