Cops say ‘hands are tied’ on homeless sex offenders

3-29-2011 Massachusetts:

Authorities had no solutions last night for frustrated South End residents who are worried about an influx of homeless sex offenders wandering their neighborhood.

“We don’t have badges and guns,” Charles McDonald of the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board told residents at a neighborhood meeting last night. “We don’t have field staff. We don’t supervise.”

The Herald reported Sunday that some convicted sex offenders who register at homeless shelters are instead roaming city streets each night. A legal loophole allows the predators to legally claim residency at a homeless shelter with the state Sex Offender Registry, even if they aren’t staying there.

“Our hands are tied,” said Boston police officer Bill Slyne. “We’d all like to do more. We can only work with the tools we’re given.”

Sgt. Gino Provenzano said police actively look to arrest sex offenders who put down a homeless shelter as their address if they fail to reregister after 30 days as required by law.

But tense South End residents wondered why more can’t be done to take high-risk offenders off the streets.

“Why aren’t there homeless shelters specifically for them?” South End resident Bill McIntosh asked at a neighborhood meeting last night. “Why are they being released into the neighborhood? ... It doesn’t make sense.”

“What’s missing here is — who’s watching?” said resident John Kiger. ..Source.. by Chris Cassidy