FL- Clusters Of Shame

1-11-2009 Florida:

Laws force some sex offenders into motels, onto streets


Dozens of sex offenders in Volusia County are clustered in low-rent motels and rooming houses along major highways, a colony shunned by society for their crimes.

But more surprising, state officials say, is that a handful of these men -- convicted of raping, molesting or exposing themselves to their victims -- are homeless, staying in woods behind shopping centers, or sleeping in their vehicles on side streets or the parking lots of businesses.

It is not illegal, officials with the state's Department of Corrections say, to be homeless and a convicted sex offender or predator in Florida.

"For some offenders, it's very hard to find a place to live," says Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger. "Many of them have no money, or there are strict restrictions on where they can live."

Are people safe from convicted sex offenders who are crashing in the woods behind a grocery store or fast-food restaurant?

"No," says Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood, who has often expressed disappointment that some transients in his city are registered sex offenders.

Cpl. Gina Baker, a detective with Holly Hill police, is not as blunt, but she does warn residents to be watchful.

"People should not feel unsafe," Baker said. "But they should be aware of their surroundings."

A Daytona Beach News-Journal query Tuesday showed there were 748 sex offenders registered in Volusia County and 82 in Flagler, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records. Because of residency restrictions and other factors, the number of registered offenders can change daily anywhere in the state, FDLE spokeswoman Heather Smith said.

The state says sex offenders cannot live within 1,000 feet of any place where children congregate. That includes churches, parks, schools and playgrounds. It also imposed a curfew that prohibits sex offenders from going near these places between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Some cities, such as Deltona and Daytona Beach Shores, have enacted stiffer ordinances that have stretched that restriction to 2,500 feet. Counties and municipalities may also impose their own curfews.

That's why many of these men -- the state's offender registry shows only five women registered in Volusia County as of Tuesday -- make their homes in no-frills motels along Ridgewood Avenue, or the claptrap rooming houses on the side streets off the main drag.

According to maps provided by the FDLE, more than 250 of the offenders registered in Volusia reside along or near Ridgewood Avenue from the southern border of Ormond Beach to Port Orange. That's about one-third of local registered sex offenders in a 10-mile stretch.

In New Smyrna Beach, for example, a handful of sex offenders have set up home at the Motel 44 off State Road 44, just west of downtown. Some learned of the locale from their probation officers.

The motels are practical for offenders because they're cheap and most are not near areas off-limits by law. They're also acceptable to both the FDLE and Department of Corrections officials who monitor offenders on probation. Those who are released from Department of Corrections supervision are checked on by local police monthly or quarterly.

"A hotel or a motel is a reportable address," said Smith of the FDLE.

But so are the woods behind the Publix supermarket on S.R. 44 in New Smyrna Beach, where sex offender Walter Hagaman -- who is on probation and under state supervision -- says he lives. Records show Hagaman was convicted of sexual assault in Michigan, and he is not considered a predator.

The state's sex offender registry shows at least 24 offenders are homeless in Volusia County, and at least eight of those are unaccounted for or have absconded.

Plessinger says transient sex offenders must provide some kind of an address -- if only an intersection, "Like 10th and Main" -- to comply with the state's registry requirements.

Richard Drinkard, 39, who has been spotted panhandling on Daytona Beach's streets, is one of the unaccounted for, records show. He is also a predator who was convicted of raping an incapacitated minor in Seminole County.

In addition, at least two other offenders who are on the state's registry and who provided a more official address, are actually homeless, records show. The men, Elliott Stites, 30, and Howell Branham, 38, of Daytona Beach, list the Homeless Assistance Center on North Street, and the Daytona Outreach Center on Ridgewood, as their residences, respectively.

Officials at both locations said neither man should be using these addresses.

"We've told him (Stites) to stop using our address," said Kassy Guy-Reed, who runs the center at 340 North St. "We have children coming here."

Jacksonville attorney Mark Gelman is outraged that state law allows sex offenders to be homeless. Gelman represents Mark Lunsford, whose 9-year-old daughter, Jessie, was raped and murdered in 2005 by repeat sex offender John Couey in Citrus County.

"If a sex offender says he's homeless, then his address should become the Volusia County Branch Jail," Gelman said. "Unless you watch them like a hawk, they should not be out there."

According to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office -- whose Career Criminal Unit alerts local police agencies anytime an offender moves into their jurisdictions -- 50 percent of all sex offenders repeat their crimes.

Those odds are even higher when they're homeless, Plessinger said.

"We find that when they (offenders) have a home, it's easier for them to get a job. When they have a job, they're less prone to re-offend," she said. "The ones who are transient are more prone to re-offend because they have nothing to lose." ..News Source.. by LYDA LONGA, Staff Writer