Ban is working? That must be a political analysis which I'm not familiar with...
3-23-2009 Florida:
DELTONA -- The original three -- Charles Ambrose, Robert Bisson and Ricardo Maldonado. That is what they were known as in Deltona.
They were the city's test cases, the first three sex offenders officials attempted to prosecute under the city's no-residency law, and now, for different reasons, the charges against them have been dropped.
In fact, in the four years since leaders decided to prosecute those who violated the city's controversial law banning sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of places children congregate, the city has never had to take a case all the way through the legal system.
"In a way it shows that the ordinance is working," said paralegal Kathy Fisk. "(The offenders) either move or they fell under one of our exceptions."
Maldonado was one of those who moved, Fisk said.
"His new address didn't fall within that 2,500 feet so we dismissed our case," she said.
Fisk said, to date, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office has identified 47 sex offenders or predators who were in violation of the city ordinance, and of that number, 22 moved.
She said 19 fell under various exceptions. The exceptions were adopted in 2008 after critics argued the 2,500-foot limit was too restrictive and made it impossible for sex offenders to live anywhere in the city.
In all of the cases mentioned charges were dismissed or charges were improper because offenders were in compliance. All this means "The ban is working?" am I missing something? Yes, thats political logic.... Now I get it...doublespeak!
All of the offenders remain bound to the state's 1,000-foot requirement.
Among those exempted from Deltona's requirement were offenders with clean records for 10 years or more and people involved in "Romeo and Juliet" cases -- relationships between, say, an 18-year-old and a 15-year-old.
Bisson was a Romeo and Juliet case.
"That was something under (former City Attorney Roland Blossom)," said City Attorney George Trovato. "At the time, no one had really reviewed (Bisson's) case or we would have found out that he was 19 at the time of the conviction."
Fisk said while reviewing Bisson's records, she noticed something about his Florida Department of Law Enforcement file wasn't right. They had his conviction date wrong and based on the new date, the city dropped its case, she said.
That left Ambrose. No one knows where he is, Frisk said, and until officials can prove he is in Deltona, and in violation of the city's law, the case against him has been dropped. According to the FDLE Web site, Ambrose has absconded, and his address remains unknown.
Fisk said currently the city only has two active cases -- Gregory Allen and Sergio Martinez.
Robert Sanders is the attorney appointed to defend both men. He was also the attorney appointed to the original three.
He said now, as with the original three, Deltona officials are fighting a judge's ruling that the city has to pay his attorney's fees.
"It is basically more of the last time," he said. "The validity and constitutionality of the ordinance is on the back burner again."
He said that is the real issue he would like to get to, especially because other cities might follow Deltona's example.
Now, he said, he believes Deltona is the only city in Volusia and Flagler counties to take the issue to court. He added that though Deltona leaders took the right steps by adding exceptions to the original ordinance, it's still unconstitutional.
"I am going to try to attack the ordinance in about 10 different ways," Sanders said. "The courts are looking at this as more of a civil matter and not whether it passes constitutional muster. To me that is wrong. The constitutionality of this needs to be challenged."
State law -- registered sex offenders and predators cannot live within 1,000 feet of a school, a day care center, a park or a playground where children regularly gather -- remains in place for all offenders and predators in Deltona. But the city's 2,500 feet requirement does not apply if:
· A restricted sex offender or designated sexual predator's offense involved consensual sexual conduct and who was no more than four years older than the victim who was 14 years of age or older but not more than 17 years of age at the time the offense was committed.
· A restricted sex offender has had no subsequent convictions within 10 years of the date of the initial conviction.
· A school, a day care center, a park or a playground where children regularly congregate is built or established within 2,500 feet of a residence after the restricted sex offender or sexual predator has established residence.
· The permanent residence was established before the effective date of this chapter, unless the sexual offense or a violation of probation for said offense was committed after the effective date.
SOURCE: city of Deltona ..News Source.. by NICOLE SERVICE, Staff Writer
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