FL- A fading oasis for sex offenders in Broward County

Any reasonable review of just the maps shows, that the intent is BANISHMENT as both a residency laws and proximity laws protects ONLY those WITHIN the protected place (i.e., school, day care, playground, etc.) and overwhelming studies show, those places ARE NOT where over 93% of kids are sexually abused. Kids are sexually abused by family, friends and acquaintances in homes not in these protected places.

However, the MAJOR portion of the sex offenses committed WITHIN these protected places are committed by employees of those places. Residency laws AND proximity laws are inherently flawed by the logic (or failure of logic) of the law. These laws are TOOLS of FURTHER PUNISHMENT by banishing offenders from areas (protected places) where sex offenses are overwhelmingly caused by employees of those places and not by people living in close proximity to these places.

7-9-2009 Florida:

Broward County considers law to further restrict where sex offenders may move:

The man with glasses and a Miami Dolphins ball cap peeks out the window as Graciela Ortiz stands in the middle of the street with a stack of photographs and pages of scribbled notes.

"The one in that house molested a little girl," she says, pointing toward the man's home. "And there's three living in that house over there."

Thumbing through a stack of sex offender fliers, she adds, "This is ground zero for sick perverts."

In the past few months, Ortiz has become especially familiar with 14 of the closest neighbors on her block. They are all registered sex offenders.

Ortiz, 53, whose three young grandchildren live next door to her, has spent her life in this mostly Hispanic, working-class neighborhood in unincorporated Broward County: Broadview Park, an area near State Road 7 and Interstate 595, surrounded by Plantation, Davie and Fort Lauderdale.

Her description is accurate, at least by the numbers. The neighborhood that covers only 1 square mile is home to 92 registered sex offenders, giving it the highest concentration of offenders in Broward, officials said.

They say this clustering evolved over the past three years as nearly every Broward city raced to adopt laws restricting areas that sex offenders and predators can move into.

Broadview Park is the largest of three small pockets left in unincorporated Broward where offenders can legally find a home. Ortiz's block is in an area of low-rent duplexes, a trailer park and several industrial businesses.

A constant parade of pedestrians wander the area to and from a nearby bus stop on State Road 7. In the neighborhood, there are children, but they are kept inside -- it's rare to see toys scattered outside a house.

Broward commissioners in April issued an emergency ordinance that bars any more offenders from moving into Broadview Park or two smaller unincorporated neighborhoods. Before the ordinance expires in October, commissioners will debate whether to make it permanent. Such a move could help Broadview Park, but also could turn more sex offenders into homeless wanderers who are hard to monitor.

The dilemma: Nobody wants sex offenders living next door, but everyone wants to keep an eye on them.

High demand

With 1,275 registered sex offenders in Broward, the demand for neighborhoods like Broadview Park is great.

Until April, when the temporary rule kicked in, "For Rent" signs were rarely up for more than a week, with offenders moving in as quickly as units hit the market.

The neighborhood was such a haven for sex offenders that one business-savvy offender, Randy Young, set up group homes, including a five-bedroom on Southwest 44th Terrace that once housed 24 offenders.

"Business has snowballed," Young said recently. "I have doctors, I have probation officers, I have public defenders all calling me every day to find out if I have a place for someone."

Broadview Park neighbors got wind of Young's homes and complained to county officials, who cited him for code violations. Now, only five offenders are registered as living in the 44th Terrace house, records show.

"I basically had to tell some of these guys to go find a bridge or a palm tree to call home," said Young. That's what worries opponents of strict residential requirements for offenders.

"This is not an issue of feeling sympathetic for sex offenders," said Jill Levenson, a Lynn University professor and chairwoman of a 13-member County Commission task force studying the issue. "We're looking at an issue where every solution creates another problem."

Levenson and others point to Miami-Dade County, where housing for offenders has been all but eliminated. The Julia Tuttle Causeway serves as a roof for 68 of them.

As of June, Miami-Dade had 175 sex offenders listed as "transients." Broward County had 29; Palm Beach County had 21. Authorities do not know the whereabouts of 47 Broward offenders who have not reported their addresses, so they are classified as "absconded."

'We need to know where they are'

A growing number of detractors, including some advocates for sexual abuse victims, think the Broward ordinance would only create more sex offender ghettos inside the few remaining cities, such as Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Miramar, that still have legal room left in residential areas.

Twenty-four of Broward's 31 cities have adopted ordinances banning offenders from moving near schools, parks, playgrounds, day care centers and school bus stops. Most used 2,500 feet for the buffer zones. Some added libraries, skating rinks, churches and sports fields -- other places children frequent -- effectively blanketing the entire city.

If Broward commissioners adopt the 2,500-foot rule, only four units will be available in unincorporated Broward. Those four are in a trailer park area of Broadview Park.

The county's task force, including a therapist, law enforcement officials, city commissioners, victim advocates and even a sex offender, last week delivered a broad set of recommendations to commissioners. But after nearly two months of meetings, task force members have been unable to agree on residential boundaries that are off limits for sex offenders.

Lauren Book-Lim, a sex abuse victim on the task force, wants the number reduced to 1,750 feet. She favors establishing "child safety" zones where offenders would be arrested if they are caught loitering near children.

"The main concern is that we don't want them absconding. We need to know where they are always," said Book-Lim, 24, daughter of lobbyist Ron Book.

But that's not acceptable for Broadview Park residents like Jan Washburn, 82, who want the 2,500-foot rule adopted permanently -- even if it promotes homelessness and makes sex offenders harder to monitor.

"We feel like we're in the grip of a pit bull that won't let go," said Washburn. "I am not for making people homeless, but a small neighborhood shouldn't bear the burden of an entire county." ..Source.. By Ihosvani Rodriguez South Florida Sun-Sentinel