IA- Sex offenders look forward to end of exile

6-28-2009 Iowa:

CEDAR RAPIDS — Doug Bruce’s exile will soon be over.

For three years, the convicted sex offender has been living in a room at the Ced-Rel Motel on Highway 30. The low, red-and-white building 4 miles west of Cedar Rapids has become a haven for those convicted of sex crimes in the years since the Iowa Sex Offender Registry was established in 1995.

Iowa law, until July 1, forbids sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or day-care center. The rule pushes them into remote places like the Ced-Rel, or campgrounds, rest areas and truck stops.

New legislation, which goes into effect on Wednesday, eliminates the 2,000-foot residency rule for all but violent offenders.

Of the 4,200 convicted sex offenders in Iowa whose victims were minors, more than 3,000 will be free to live in neighborhoods that until now have been off limits.

“The majority of them are going to live wherever they want to,” said Joe Motsinger, a special agent in charge of the sex offender registry for the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Bruce, 30, who was convicted of indecent contact with a child in 2006 and wears an ankle bracelet so police can track him, will be allowed to move back to Cedar Rapids.

“I know I’m moving,” he said. “As soon as I figure out what’s what, and what the rules are.”


Bruce has no car. He lives with his mother, and she drives him to the odd jobs he takes to support himself. He wants to be closer to public transportation so he can complete his degree in business.

The change in the sex offender residency law is welcomed not just by Bruce but also by many police departments and sheriff’s offices. It addresses law enforcement complaints that the residency requirement is difficult to enforce, can cause sex offenders to go underground and doesn’t address the real problem: Sex offenders hanging around schoolyards or swimming pools while children are there.

Here we go, now that a law has been made to cover this LONG STANDING myth, now the myth allegedly is a real problem. OK law enforcement, stand up and let the public know how many arrests have been made for RSOs hanging around schoolyards or swimming pools. I'll bet if any were found there, they had purpose for being there and there presence was purposefully misconstrued.

“The residency restriction, while well-intended, was really not on point,” said Ross Loder, a legislative liaison for the Iowa Department of Public Safety. “If they’re living beyond 2,000 feet from the school, you can’t do anything. ... The concern is more about what happens when they’re outside their residence.”

The new legislation tightens restrictions on where sex offenders can go, by establishing safety zones — schools, day cares, libraries, parks, swimming pools — that are off limits without special permission.

Schools and libraries will set up their own procedures for giving this permission, the DCI’s Motsinger said. Election Days will be an exception, when sex offenders will be allowed to enter such properties to vote.

The safety zones include a 300-foot “no loitering” cushion where police can arrest convicted sex offenders on reasonable suspicion they are attempting a sex crime. The law also prohibits sex offenders from working or volunteering at fairs, schools, libraries, beaches or swimming pools.

Sex offenders are sprinkled throughout Linn and Johnson Counties, but the old law put large sections of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City off limits for home addresses. Consequently, sex offenders have clustered in certain places — motels on 33rd Avenue SW, apartments west of Westdale Mall, apartments north of Coral Ridge Mall.

About 260 people are on the registry in Linn County, and about 180 of them will be affected by the law change. As of June 1, 88 offenders were registered in Johnson County, not including the hundreds incarcerated at Oakdale.

Bruce was convicted of a sex crime in 2006 after having a sexually charged argument with a 13-year-old girl. Later, he was aware that a 20-year-old “co-conspirator” was having sex with the girl but did nothing to help her or report what happened, according to court records.

He is worried that even though the residency rules are changing, he might not be able to find a landlord who will rent to him.

“That’s the thing,” he said. “Will the landlords let us live there?” ..Source.. by Adam Belz, The Gazette