I-Team: Sex Offenders Found Living In U.S. Hotels

Here is an interesting story about PROPERLY REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS and where they are living, of course the media is sensationalizing and implying the public is at risk when they are no more at risk than if they lived elsewhere. Is the media or Bledsloe trying to get these folks evicted, so they can then write a story about homeless sex offenders?

The facts are, that of the crimes reported in this story at hotels, there is no mention that they were committed by former offenders, although that is implied. In Bledsloe's earlier reports re: nursing homes, thats exactly what he did there. Most of those crimes were by other felons who had never before committed a sex offenses.

Given Bledsloe's claims really didn't go far earlier, now he is sensationalizing where properly registered sex offenders are now living. I think the police who do address checks are well aware of these facts, and glad they can find these folks when they come calling; a fact omitted from this report.

As to the claims that -no one is told- about this, such is a flat out lie, remember, all of these folks are PROPERLY REGISTERED which is how the media and Bledsloe found them; the registry is properly updated, that is all you need to know. There is no constitutional right to PERSONAL HAND DELIVERED NOTICES.

4-30-2010 National:

MIAMI (CBS4 I-TEAM) As you think about your summer vacation plans, you might want to think about this: A sex offender could be living live at the hotel you're booked to stay in. What some experts tell us will have you being more careful next time you check in.

"He was alone with my son for three to five minutes, and he utilized that time for his own pleasure." So begins the chilling tale of a Miami mother who will never forget the face of a sexual predator Yatwing Chang.

Chang is a man she hoped would never be in position to hurt another child. In 2007, Chang, a computer service technician who visited her Miami home, was convicted of attempting to sexually molest her 4-year-old little boy. He was sentenced to 10 years community supervision.

Exactly two weeks ago he was arrested at a South Florida Winn Dixie for allegedly trying to fondle a three year-old boy. Chang's name first surfaced on the CBS4 I-Team radar in an unprecedented review of sex offenders and predators living in hotels and motels across Florida and the nation.

"Some of these men are violent felons and their crimes are very, very graphic,'" says Wes Bledsoe, Founder of A Perfect Cause, which is based in Oklahoma. Bledsoe spent days with the I-Team, ultimately months, uncovering violent felons and child molesters living among guests staying at hotels -- with their children.

"It says the system is out of control; it says that there are more people in harms way than we thought," says Bledsoe.

As the investigation unfolded, Chang turned up living at the Homestead Studio Suites in Miami, where computer records revealed that as many as 30 sex offenders at one time had notified the state they were living there.

"It is horrific. It is just unbelievable. A hotel where he has access to other people's children, it is unacceptable," the mother of Chang's four year-old victim told Chief I-team Investigator Michele Gillen.

The I-Team investigation uncovered sex predators like Chang and hundreds upon hundreds of other sex offenders living in hotels and motels across the nation. Children were everywhere when the I-Team visited one hotel in Orlando -- teaming with families heading out to the state's most popular attractions. The hotel's general manager said he was shocked to learn state records indicated a sex offender had reported as staying there.

The I-Team also traveled to hotels in Kissimmee.

"You are listed as a registered predator aren't you?" Gillen asked a man at one hotel standing next to children's bicycles.

He, like most offenders Gillen spoke with, said he thought hotel management had to be informed, and guests should be informed.

"Do you think it's a good idea for people checking in with kids to know offenders are living in a place?" Gillen asked.

"Yes. All the time. I may not be the bad guy. Not thinking about doing something like that. You never know there could be someone that is," he responded.

If you checked into the Friendly Village Inn and Lodge in Kissimmee, state records showed that on this April day, 12 registered sex offenders including 3 sexual predators had told the state they were living there. While there was a child running about on property, records indicate the majority of the offenders registered at that hotel were all on probation and/or state supervision.

The I-Team also took a visit to Naples, Florida, where the I-Team met a man standing behind the front desk who told Gillen: "I am just selling rooms here."

The I-Team learned he was renting rooms at that hotel and one across the street where -- according to state records -- nine sex offenders had notified the state they were living there.

May I ask you, are you a registered sex offender?

"Yes, I am," he responded.

That's right, the man renting the rooms is Raul Del Angel, a registered sex predator.

Most of the offenders say their probation officers know where they are living and often directed them to the hotels.

"Then by God, tell us about it. Let us know so we can make that decision, if want to stay there or not," says Bledsoe.

Crimes are now surfacing at hotels across the country. Just one week ago a sex offender was arrested in a Georgia hotel for luring a nine year-old into his hotel room.

In Tennessee, sex offender Richard Emmery Brower was convicted of aggravated sexual battery on a nine year-old girl who was staying with her family in the hotel room next door. And just last month sex offender James Gafford was arrested in Mobile, Alabama for allegedly raping a teenager in his hotel room. Gafford once lived in Miami. Records indicate he told the state he was moving into the Homestead Studio Suites, directly from his prison release.

As Bledsoe continues to scan communities across America -- in just a handful of states he has reviewed -- he has documented nearly 1,000 sexual offenders and predators notifying their respective states they are living in hotels and motels. That ominously adds up to one piece of advice. He says: "For every young woman traveling on business, for every family traveling with their children, they need to make sure that from here on out. They need to check the sex offender registry to make sure the hotel they are staying at does not have a sexual offender staying under the same roof." ..Source.. Michelle Gillian