PA- Attempt to oust sex offenders stalls

Gotta love Tom, problem not me its the state, go after them.

4-18-2009 Pennsylvania:

Former state Rep. Tom Armstrong denies he's breaking any borough rules by operating a group residence for sex offenders in Columbia Borough.

At Monday's borough council meeting, two borough residents said the convicted sex offenders living in Armstrong's Mill Street property are unwelcome in their neighborhood.

Borough officials said they would force Armstrong's hand by making it a code-enforcement issue. Both Mayor Leo S. Lutz and borough manager Norman Meiskey said Armstrong apparently was breaking a borough ordinance that prohibits more than three unrelated people from living in a single residence.

At the time, it appeared that was true. After sex-related offenders are released from prison, they must notify the state of their work and home addresses at all times. They also must report any change of address, which is then updated on the state's Megan's Law Web site, a public access listing of sex offenders.

On Monday, according to that Web site, four convicted sex offenders were listed as tenants at Armstrong's Mill Street property, which would mean Armstrong was violating the borough's limit by having too many unrelated people living there.

But Armstrong said he has never housed more than three men in the property at one time and that most of the time only two have lived there.

"I have never, never had four men living there," Armstrong said Thursday. "(State police) don't update that Web site every day. The very day one guy moved out, another guy moved in."

(eAdvocate Post)


Armstrong said the men notified the parole office of their new addresses, but the site hasn't been updated to reflect the changes, making it appear four men live in the house.

Contrary to what borough officials say, Armstrong said, he did try to contact Meiskey about a year ago to notify the borough of his plan to house the men in the property, but Meiskey never returned his phone call.

Meiskey said Thursday that he doesn't recall Armstrong ever attempting to contact him or anyone else in the borough about his plans for the Mill Street property.

This is the third community in which Armstrong has attempted to locate a group residence for people convicted of sex-related crimes — a population that typically has so much difficulty finding appropriate housing that offenders sometimes are held in prison even after having served their sentences. To be released, they must verify that they have housing approved by the parole office.

Armstrong said Thursday that he's trying to fill that housing gap for at least a few offenders with a group residence. And if he can, he plans to open more homes to convicted sex offenders.

"I can't afford a place right now, so I'm not aggressively seeking" another one, Armstrong said. "But yes, I would like to expand in Columbia. I probably have 10 people looking for housing in Lancaster right now, and I can't help them because I don't have the room. But I can take care of three, and if they move on, I can take care of another three."

Last year, Armstrong's group residence was ousted from Conestoga Township and Marietta Borough. Officials in both municipalities used ordinances similar to Columbia Borough's three-person limit to force out Armstrong's group residence.

In Marietta, where Armstrong allowed the men to move into his own home, he fought the borough's move to oust the men by filing a lawsuit against the borough in Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas, where the case is pending.

On Monday, Columbia Borough residents Maria Reyes and Bobbi Jo Torbert, both of whom rented from Armstrong in the past, echoed complaints heard in other communities about Armstrong's group residence. They said they had no idea sex offenders had moved into the property and that they don't want them there because there are too many children in the neighborhood.

Even so, Armstrong said, he won't be dissuaded. He said he believes the group residence is a safer way to reintegrate sex offenders into society than isolating them in single units, where they have no support from each other and no one keeping an eye on them.

"It's about building safer communities," Armstrong said. "And you build safer communities by integration, not isolation."

Armstrong bolsters his case by pointing out that recidivism rates for most types of sex offenders is only about 3 percent. In contrast, he said, half of those convicted of drug and alcohol offenses fail to rehabilitate and go on to commit more crimes — yet those offenders have plenty of housing choices when they emerge from prison.

Armstrong also cited statistics that claim that fewer than 1 percent of sex offenders are pedophiles.

"Everyone who hears 'sex offender' thinks pedophile," he said.

Armstrong said he hasn't received a single negative telephone call or e-mail about his mission, which garnered national media attention last year when he moved several sex offenders into his Marietta home until the Mill Street property was ready.

For their part, borough officials are speaking considerably less aggressively about their approach to ousting Armstrong's tenants than they were at Monday's council meeting now that Armstrong has notified them he isn't violating any ordinances.

Meiskey said Thursday that the matter is still being investigated to verify exactly how many live at the Mill Street property. But, he said, it appears residents might have to learn to live with Armstrong's tenants, just as they do the other 24 convicted sex offenders who list properties in the borough as their work or home address.

"It's an issue the neighbors are having trouble wrestling with," Meiskey said. "But obviously, if there are no violations, then the matter remains as it is." ..News Source.. by SUSAN E. LINDT, Staff Writer