FL- Housing for sex offenders

7-21-2009 Florida:

Registered sex offender Randy Young bought the single wide mobile home at 382 Akorn Street when it went into foreclosure. He lives there and rents rooms to two other registered sex offenders.

"I get nervous about the children. I get nervous when we have the grandchild staying over and I get nervous about the girl across the street,” said Bill Hammel, who has owned the home next door for 15 years. "I still haven't found out who owns the place," Hammel added.

When FOX 35 told Hammel that a man named Randy Young, a registered sex offender, was the owner, he couldn't believe it. "That surprises me,” he said. “Shocks me actually."

FOX 35 discovered that Young has made a business out of finding homes for sex offenders. Just check his website, HousingForSexOffenders.com . We watched as Brevard County Sheriff's Lt. Tod Goodyear saw the website for the first time.

"Our biggest concern is he's bringing offenders in from out of county," said Lt. Goodyear, adding to the 700 registered sex offenders already living in Brevard County.

In a phone interview, Young told FOX 35 that he has more than forty homes which he either owns or is leasing, subletting rooms to registered sex offenders. In some of those homes, as many as four registered sex offenders are living under one roof. He considers these homes "safe havens for sex offenders."

"It’s a service that's needed. Just got a call from a lady living in a car," said Young. He also told FOX 35 that when he was released from prison after serving his sentence, his mother had a hard time finding him a place to live. He added that what was available was substandard.

"He's a registered sex offender. He knows what’s out there and knows what's available and the restrictions. He's using that as an advantage," said Lt. Tod Goodyear as he continued looking through Young's website.

Young said, on average, he profits $400 per home. Multiply that by the forty homes which Young owns or is subletting, and that could bring an average of $16,000 profit each month. These homes are in counties across Florida, including Brevard and Orange. Lt. Goodyear said that as long as Young does not exceed a total of three residents living in the home on Akorn, he's not breaking any laws. Code enforcement has been by the house a few times. Lt. Goodyear said that he instructs deputies to pay extra attention to that neighborhood. Aside from the three sex offenders living at 282 Akorn, there are two other registered sex offenders living on the same street. Deputies do extra patrols along that stretch. Young tells FOX 35 that he plans to expand his business to offer more potential home rentals to registered sex offenders across Central Florida. ..Source.. by HOLLY BRISTOW | FOX 35 News