Man Under Fire For Housing Offenders

2-2-2010 Oklahoma:

Tom Wright Says He's Doing Work Of God

CHANDLER, Okla. -- A Lincoln County man is under fire for housing registered sex offenders near a camp where children stay.

However, Tom Wright told Eyewitness News 5 that he's doing the work of God by helping people nobody else would.

Wright provides work and room and board for seven sex offenders living on his property. He said it is a divine calling. But with a camp that children use just miles away, neighbors have called it careless.

"One thing I was always wanting to do is I was wanting to help some people no one wanted to help," Wright said.

Don Wood is currently on probation for having an inappropriate relationship with a minor. He went to jail and is now one of seven registered sex offenders building houses for Wright just three miles north of Chandler.

"Everybody's sinned and come short of the glory of God -- and thank God that we have a God that forgives," he said.

The controversy centers on the Greenfield Winery, which sites exactly one mile east of Wright's property. In the summertime, Girl Scouts use the winery as a campsite.

While Wright cannot guarantee the safety of everybody in the community, he still feels like what God is asking him to do is the right thing.

"No, I can't guarantee it," Wright said. "But the probability of them going down there is a million to one."

For some families in Chandler, those odds are not good enough.

"No, not to me it's not," said Chandler resident Eva Lankford.

Lankford said she is concerned the offenders might find their way onto the streets of Chandler. It has already happened once.

Wright recently kicked two men out of his program for stealing.

The Lincoln County Sheriff said the men now live in tents, in Chandler, and check in once a week.

When asked whether Wright would shut down his program if one of the sex offenders reoffended nearby, he said he would not.

"Why would we want to penalize everybody because of what one person done," Wright said.

Wright is not breaking the law. Lincoln County commissioners have told him that he must provide counseling for the offenders to remain in legal compliance.

Wright is also in the process of building small houses in on his property for the offenders to live.

He said he would like to house 15 offenders. ..Source.. KOCO.com