MA- Parents alarmed by sex offender

Interesting here is, that nowhere does this woman even consider personally taking responsibility for her child at the bus stop or walking to the bus stop. Read carefully, its always someone else that is expected to watch out for her child's safety.

UPDATE: In response to viewer comment. Yes I do understand what friends are for and you are mistaken as to what house I live in, many many many miles away. All assumptions come from what the article says, if it is correct but if it fails to show facts its impossible to know them. MY reasons for concern here are due to the recent Garrido case, where Jaycee lived only a block or so from her home when she was kidnapped. Yes, I have deep concerns with any child walking -any distance, block to a mile- to and from schools or school bus stops. And I am a firm believer there is no better protection than a parent hand-in-hand. Finally, the biggest problem kids face today does not come from the known offender down the street, parents need to recognize that: CLICK for thousands of cases of experience as to who the real offenders are (right hand column as to those under 18)! See also: Indicators of School Crime and Safety: All Years see Indicator 3, Prevalence of Victimization at School (“At school” includes the school building, on school property, on a school bus, and, from 2001 onward, going to
and from school.)

9-15-2009 Massachusetts:

WEST BARNSTABLE — Lee Haselton had worries about her eighth-grade daughter's bus stop.

Her daughter would have to walk more than a mile from home to get the bus in the early morning. She worried about her daughter's safety, walking near traffic while it's still dark outside. Since eighth-graders now attend Barnstable High School, she wouldn't know many of the other students at the stop.

So Haselton, a professor at Cape Cod Community College, asked a friend near the Cedar Street and Willow Street bus stop to keep an eye on her 13-year-old daughter. What the neighbor told her left her with a new batch of concerns. A level 3 sex offender lived in a house across the street from the bus stop.

So she started making calls, along with the neighbor, including to town councilor Henry Farnham.

Last night, about 50 concerned residents and parents joined Haselton at the West Barnstable Fire Station to express their concerns and find out more about the sex offender, 60-year-old John Stangl.

No school officials were there, but the crowd soon learned that Stangl is hardly the only high-risk sex offender in town. There are currently 16 level 3 sex offenders working or living in town, Barnstable Police Chief Paul MacDonald said. A level 3 sex offender, designated by the Sex Offender Registry Board, is considered a high risk to re-offend.

Stangl moved into the house at 475 Willow St. in late June after being released from prison in Plymouth, MacDonald said. Notices were sent out to a long list of community groups, and Barnstable schools, MacDonald said.

Stangl had been convicted three times since 1998 on charges of open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior. In each case, including one time in Barnstable, Stangl exposed himself in public and committed a lewd act, MacDonald said.

In June, a man who said he's a minister offered to let Stangl temporarily live in his Willow Street home, MacDonald said.

MacDonald said Stangl knows many residents don't want him in the area, but legally, he has a right to live there.

"For now, you have to take due diligence," MacDonald said.

Town officials said any resident can get on the police department's e-mail system that notifies people when a level 3 sex offender moves into town or takes a job in town.

The residences of level 2 sex offenders, considered a "moderate" risk, can be accessed at the Barnstable Police Department.

In Stangl's case, he is not allowed on school property or several other areas such as public libraries, MacDonald said. He has a tether that monitors his location.

Many parents said they worried about their children's safety and peppered the police chief with questions. Could they post Stangl's level 3 sex offender release in public? Yes. Should they call police if they see him on school property? Yes.

But MacDonald said residents couldn't let emotion take them too far. If they confronted or harassed a registered sex offender, they could be arrested.

"You are walking a very fine line here ... you could be charged with a crime," he said.

No school officials were at the meeting to describe how they monitor bus stops that are near sex offenders' homes. After the meeting, Farnham said Barnstable Schools Supt. Patricia Grenier was scheduled to attend but told him she had a meeting that wouldn't allow her to stay for the entire session, which started at 6:30 p.m.

"I thought Patti was going to be there so we would be assured the bus drivers would have a heads-up on this guy," she said.

Grenier could not be reached for comment last night.

Haselton said the school district told her that her daughter's bus route was scheduled to change next week.

"I think this has been very healing," she said about the meeting, but she still had questions about how the school notifies parents of sex offenders. ..Source.. by ROBERT GOLD