Sex Offenders' recovery group raises concerns in Chandler

Lincoln County man says he’s providing ‘a second chance’

CHANDLER — These days, a simple Bible verse about helping others brings Tom Wright to tears.

The Lincoln County man thumbs through the red, leather-bound book he keeps handy at his desk, finding his favorite passage in Matthew.

He said his ministry to help men no one else will — sex offenders — is God’s will.

And he doesn’t plan to stop, despite opposition from some county officials.

"It hurts me to see that some people don’t understand what we’re doing here,” Wright said. "We’re trying to help these men establish a new life. Everyone deserves a second chance.”

Wright is housing eight registered sex offenders on his property about two miles north of Chandler. He said he’s been doing it for more than two years without a complaint from the community until he started to build a sewer lagoon that angered some of his neighbors.

Sheriff Chuck Mangion said Wright doesn’t appear to be breaking any laws, but if he decides to go along with plans to expand his outfit, he will have to follow the legal requirements of a treatment center. Among other requirements, he will have to provide licensed counselors, he said.

Wright is building small cabins to house as many as 15 men.

Mangion said some residents are concerned, because there is a camp used by Girl Scouts about a mile away.

He and other county officials, including an assistant district attorney, met with Wright last week. Wright told them then he probably wouldn’t go through with the expansion, but he has since changed his mind.

Wright said he started his foundation, Labor of Victorious Examples, also known as LOVE, to help registered sex offenders re-establish themselves in society.

During the day the men work for his company, Wright Way Homes, building houses on site to be sold and moved to another location. All proceeds go into his foundation to fund the ministry, he said.

The men don’t earn a paycheck. Wright said they work for room and board, to cover any past court fines and keep up with any other expenses they may have incurred. When they graduate from the program a year later, they’re given two months wages to help them get started, he said.

While there, they’re required to attend Bible study, Wright said.

Patrick Rantz, 45, said no one was willing to help him when he was released from prison for child molestation. He said he would have been homeless had Wright and his wife, Rose, not accepted him in their ministry.

"When you’re a registered sex offender, no one is willing to help you and they treat you like you’re not human,” Rantz said. "I felt hopeless before I came here, but now I’m rebuilding my life.”

Rantz, an Air Force veteran, said he plans to get financial aid and return to school.

There are 90 registered sex offenders in Lincoln County. Mangion said he’s concerned Wright’s ministry will import more.

He said two men that once lived on Wright’s property were made to leave last year because they allegedly burglarized Wright’s home while he lay in the hospital battling cancer. Those men are now homeless, living in tents outside of town, he said.

They walk four miles into Chandler once a week to report to the sheriff’s office as required by law, Mangion said. "They’re not breaking any laws so we can’t make them leave, but this can’t keep happening,” Mangion said.

Wright said he thinks residents have nothing to fear because the men in his program are better supervised than the 83 others in the community. He said he can’t guarantee the safety of everyone, but he feels that as long as he’s doing God’s will, positive things will happen. ..Source..ANN KELLEY