CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - No more room at the inn for sex offenders. That's the word from the Mecklenburg County Sheriff.
We've learned that a number of offenders have used the uptown shelter as their registered address, but no more. 1210 North Tryon is a well known address near Center City Charlotte. It is listed as the Uptown Men's Shelter. Type in the address in this state run search engine, and a place known for housing homeless still comes up as a residence for sex offenders.
Keeping tabs on offenders here been a thorn in the side of Sheriff Chipp Bailey, but he's breathing a little easier over a new policy the shelter has put in place. "We are talking about folks who are pretty much homeless and they drift," the Sheriff said. " The decision was made whenever that are not accepting any registered sex offenders and that's probably for the best."
Dale Mullinnax oversees the operations at the Urban Ministry Center. Like the uptown shelter, it attracts the homeless. While no one spends the night here, the College street address also shows up on the sex offender registry. However, folks who run it don't see it as a problem.
Mullinnax said, "If someone comes from law enforcement and says we're trying to find this person for this purpose, we're gonna cooperate with them. We're not a residential facility and we don't mind saying who we know and who we don't know."
Offenders do fall through the cracks. Case in point the winter shelter on Statesville Avenue. It's the same scenario, key in the address and up comes a mug shot and rap sheet.
Sheriff Bailey say's his deputies will follow up.
"We still have to figure out where these folks are. If they are homeless, That just makes the problem that much bigger."
According to the sheriff's department, more than 900 registered sex offenders live in Mecklenburg County. ..Source.. by Steve Crump
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