NC- Sex offender known for Domino's food tampering video banned from community college

9-2-2009 North Carolina:

For Kristy Hammonds, the Jessica Lunsford Act has become the law of unintended consequences.

The 31-year-old mother of two small children said she was booted from her classes at Wilkes Community College Monday because she is a registered sex offender. The Wilkesboro college operates an early college high school, making the campus a place where certain offenders are prohibited because minors are present.

Hammonds was one of two Domino’s Pizza employees fired from a Conover franchise in April for tampering with food in a video posted on YouTube. She narrated while co-worker Michael Setzer, 32, placed cheese in his nostril and sneezed on a sandwich roll. Both former workers face a criminal charge of distributing prohibited foods, though they maintain the video was a prank and the tainted sandwiches were not served.

“I’m a nobody, but I turned into an infamous somebody,” said Hammonds, explaining the media firestorm that the Domino’s video ignited. “Now, I’m going to be an advocate for others like me. This time, it’s going to turn out for the better.”

Signed in Gastonia by former Gov. Mike Easley July 28, 2008, the Jessica Lunsford Act tightened restrictions on registered sex offenders in North Carolina. Offenders whose victims were under 16 are forbidden from going “(w)ithin 300 feet of any location intended primarily for the use, care or supervision of minors.”

The law also bans those offenders from being “at any place where minors gather for regularly scheduled educational, recreational or social programs.”

Hammonds, who was convicted of misdemeanor sexual battery in 2006 for having sex with a 14-year-old girl, doesn’t believe the boundary rule should prevent her from completing her education. The law has also been used to toss parishioners from church pews if their congregations operate a children’s nursery, prompting some to call for reform.

No second chances

For the past year, Hammonds has been studying to receive an associate’s in applied science degree at Wilkes. She had a well-paying job as a certified medical assistant waiting for her. She had just begun her third semester when officials told her she was no longer allowed on campus.

“I want to provide a future for my baby,” she said, holding 1-year-old Sara. “I cannot have an education and I cannot have this job and I cannot provide a better future.”

Wilkes Community College spokeswoman Christie Hutchens said Hammonds was given a refund for her tuition and was able to return her books. She said the N.C. Community College System sent Wilkes officials a memorandum stating that the Jessica Lunsford Act would prohibit sex offenders whose victims were under 16 from attending classes because of the early college high school.

“A lot of people, especially people in education, believe in second chances,” Hutchens said. “But at the same time, officially we have to go by the law and the policy set forth by the system office.”

Teenagers who enroll in the early college program graduate in five years with a high school diploma and an associate’s degree. The Wilkes Early College High School accepted 60 freshmen in its first year. Hutchens said the school will add another grade level each of the following four years.

Hammonds said the 14-year-old girl she met had told her she was 19. She pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge and received two years of probation.

“I’m not a pedophile or a child molester,” she said. “The detective even said on the stand that I am not a pedophile.”

College officials told Hammonds she couldn’t take online classes because some coursework would still require her presence on campus.

Gaston College, which does not have an early college high school, allows sex offenders to enroll as long as they notify the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office, said spokeswoman Stephanie Michael-Pickett.


Help from Hoyle?

Convinced that the Jessica Lunsford Act stood between her and her education, Hammonds contacted state Sen. David Hoyle — a leading sponsor of the bill. She wants legislators to consider an amendment that would allow sex offenders to attend community colleges, even those that share their campuses with hybrid high schools.

Hammonds went to Hoyle’s real estate office in Gastonia early Wednesday afternoon. The senator wasn’t at work, so she phoned him from the second-story lobby outside his suite.

“The law broke the law. He has broken the law,” she said of Hoyle, “by violating my civil rights.”

Hoyle, D-Gaston, said he doesn’t believe the Lunsford Act should be used to turn students away from colleges. He faults not the law itself, but the community college system’s interpretation of the law.

“Maybe the community college is overreacting,” Hoyle said. “That was never the intent. It never crossed our mind.”

Hoyle said registered sex offenders have made poor decisions and must live with the consequences of those decisions. But he sees no harm in a sex offender seeking enrichment and better career prospects through education.

“I personally would have no problem with the woman going to a community college where there might be high school kids,” he said. “The intent of the law was to keep pedophiles separated from minors, from children.”

Hoyle would consider backing amendments to the law if it is widely found to include community colleges, where many working adults attend classes.

“We do the best we can with the laws with the facts we have to deal with,” he said. “None of them are perfect. Almost every law we pass gets amended every year or two because there are unintended consequences.”

Constitutional conflicts

A registered sex offender arrested for attending a worship service at his church in the town of Moncure is asking a Chatham County judge to declare the 300-foot boundary unconstitutional. James Nichols was arrested March 15 along with another sex offender, Frankie DeMaio, for attending Moncure Baptist Church.

In his motion on Nichols’ behalf, Chapel Hill attorney Glenn Gerding argues that the statute is “overbroad and vague” and violates sex offenders’ First Amendment rights to free exercise of religion and the freedoms of speech and assembly.

The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Nichols’ case, said Hammonds could likely argue that the law violates her 14th Amendment rights to due process and equal protection under the law.

“Under the 14th Amendment, criminal statutes have to be clear enough for people to know whether what they’re doing violates a criminal law,” said Katy Parker, ACLU of North Carolina legal director. “Part of the problem with these provisions is there’s no definitions.”

The law provides some examples of places off-limits to offenders whose victims were under 16 — including children’s museums, nurseries and playgrounds. Churches are not specifically mentioned, and neither are public colleges.

The Gaston County Sheriff’s Office said last December that the N.C. Department of Justice interprets the law to include churches if nurseries or children’s ministries take place within 300 feet of the sanctuary.

Parker said lawmakers could work to protect children without depriving sex offenders of opportunities to worship or study.

“It’s not good public policy,” she said. “We definitely are watching the ways this law is being applied. Wouldn’t you want (sex offenders) to be able to go to churches and rehabilitate? Wouldn’t you want them to go to community colleges and get an education?” ..Source.. by Corey Friedman