OH- OH - Shelter To Turn Tier III Sex Offenders Away

6-18-2009 Ohio:

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The only homeless shelter in Columbus to accept Tier III sex offenders planned to change its policy, 10TV News reported Tuesday.

Faith Mission, located on Long Street, will no longer provide beds for the Tier III offenders beginning July 1, 10TV's Lindsey Seavert reported.

Last winter, the shelter said they noticed nearly a 30 percent rise in the number of Tier III offend More..ers staying at the shelter, sometimes housing up to 15 per day.

"I really realized the trend was those guys were coming directly from incarceration, from the Department of Corrections to the shelter and in may cases we simply don't have the services here they need," said executive director Sue Villilo.

Villilo said they are worried about sex offenders interacting with volunteers at the shelter.

"Some of the volunteer groups involve children," Villilo said.

Shelter resident Gregory Kelsor said it is a good move for safety, but not everyone knows what it is like to spend a day in an offender's shoes, Seavert reported.

"I definitely think they need to be put on a chain, for sure, but people deserve a second chance, we all do because we all make mistakes," Kelsor said.

Ken Andrews, a homeless advocate, said he worries that the decision is a mistake.

"There will be a problem, this is a population that does reoffend," Andrews said.

He said he knows many of the offenders and that given the risk, he would rather they sleep in a shelter than on the streets.

"If they are a Tier III, the courts tell us to know where they are at," Andrews said. "Why are our social service agencies and city leaders tossing these people to us? It doesn't make sense."

The shelter said they are sticking to their mission and it's not the place where the most violent of homeless should sleep, Seavert reported.

"We are not a safety net, we don't monitor or track sex offenders, that is a Corrections function," Villilo said.

Tier III sex offenders are required to register with police every 90 days for the rest of their lives. Tier II offenders must register every 180 days for 25 years and Tier I offenders are required to register once a year for 15 years.

The shelter will continue to accept Tier I and II sex offenders. Anyone is welcome to attend meals at the shelter, regardless of their criminal history, Seavert reported. ..Source..