Slipped through the cracks? Ahhh I get it, Lawmakers aren't able to think beyond the moment or one issue.11-27-2012 Wisconsin:
Loophole allows ex-priest to live near east-side park
Green Bay aldermen are acting to close a loophole that has allowed a convicted sex offender to live in an east-side apartment building over the city’s objections.
A City Council committee voted Monday to recommend adjusting Green Bay’s five-year-old ordinance aimed at controlling where sex offenders can live.
The issue came to light after officials discovered that Donald Buzanowski, a former Catholic priest who molested a young boy, was living in an apartment building at 2258 Imperial Lane, despite the city’s attempts at prohibiting him from living there. It turned out the city’s ordinance did not apply to Buzanowski because of how his conviction was classified.
Alderman Tom DeWane, president of the City Council, told members of the council’s Protection & Welfare Committee on Monday that as many as three other offenders might have similarly slipped through the cracks.
“They’re beating the system,” DeWane said.
The committee action expanding the ordinance so it covers convictions like Buzanowski’s now goes before the full council for final consideration.
Alderman Jesse Brunette, a member of the Protection & Welfare Committee, said that finding loopholes in laws is not unusual, and he remains confident that the city’s sex offender residency restrictions are working reasonably well.
Referring to sex offenders, Brunette said, “People living in the city shouldn’t be allowed an exemption because of some obscure state law.”
Assistant City Attorney Jim Mueller said officials have not yet determined if the committee action can be applied retroactively so Buzanowski will have to relocate from his Imperial Lane apartment — or at least get ...continued... by Scott Cooper Williams
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