WI- Sex offender advisory board OKs four residency requests

8-17-2009 Wisconsin:

A man convicted in 1993 of first-degree sexual assault of two children will be allowed to buy a home and relocate within the city of Green Bay, an advisory board decided this week.

Daniel Konshak, 49, received unanimous approval Wednesday from the Sex Offender Residency Board, which hears appeals to the city's ordinance banning sex offenders from moving into or relocating within the city.

Konshak served almost 10 years in prison for assaulting two children, ages 6 and 7, and exposing himself to them in 1992.

He has stayed out of trouble since being released and is working full time at American Foods and living in an apartment at 1702 University Ave.

The three board members attending Wednesday's meeting — Renee Keehan, Louis Del Frate and Ben Heiman — voted to allow Konshak to buy and move into a home at 1056 N. Henry St.

The board voted to approve three other appeals:

# John McGraw, 27, will move into the apartment building that Konshak hopes to move out of, on University Avenue. When he was released from prison in February, McGraw received the board's permission to move to 716 Mather St.

He told the board Wednesday he has been working steadily since then, has a girlfriend and is getting his life back in order.

He was convicted in February 2002 of second-degree sexual assault of a child, a charge stemming from consensual sex he had with a 14-year-old girl, when he was 18.

# Christopher Oatman, 38, will be allowed to move from the Brown County Jail into an apartment at 214 S. Chestnut Ave. However, Oatman has since requested the location be changed to 921 Harvey St. The board will convene at 9:30 a.m. today in room 207 of City Hall, 100 N. Jefferson St., to consider the request.

Oatman was convicted in 2002 of first-degree sexual assault of a child, involving a 12-year-old girl.

He was sentenced to four years in prison and 10 years extended supervision. He served an additional three years when his probation was revoked because he stole women's underwear, viewed pornography, contacted his victim and violated other terms of his probation.

The board granted the appeal after hearing testimony from Oatman's mother and a prison transport chaperone, both who said Oatman was trying hard to turn his life around and will have plenty of support from family and others.

# Cary Johnson, 46, an inmate of the Red Granite Correctional Institution, will be allowed to move into the state Transitional Living Program, 1761 Shawano Ave.

Johnson served nine years in prison for first-degree sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl in 1994. Relatives testified on his behalf and said they'd be there to give him support.

The board also denied five appeals:

# Barry Watters, 21, an inmate at the Green Bay Correctional Institution, won't be allowed to move into the Transitional Living Program. Watters, convicted in October 2007 of repeated first-degree sexual assault of a child, partly blamed the 15-year-old girl with whom he had consensual sex, saying she lied about her age because she wanted to have sexual relations. He also told the board that he did not participate in sex offender counseling while in prison, has no intention of using his family for support, that he has no friends on which to rely and that he wasn't planning to look for work because he was trying to publish a book.

# James Woods, 42, an inmate of Kettle Morraine Correctional Institution, won't be allowed to move into the Transitional Living Program. He was convicted of second-degree sexual assault in February 2007 in Brown County Circuit Court and of aggravated criminal sexual assault in 1985 in Cook County, Ill. Both offenses involved adult women, Woods told the board. With the string of unrelated, nonsexual crimes spanning the last two decades, board members said Woods already had plenty of chances to turn his life around.

The board denied three applicants on the basis of their failure to attend the meeting or keep their phone appointment from prison. They will be allowed to reapply. ..Source.. by Paul Srubas