December 17, 2014

Local facility to house homeless sex offenders

12-17-2014 Ohio:

MANSFIELD – The Richland County Community Corrections Board approved a change Wednesday to admit some homeless county sex offenders to a local facility.

Nothing Into Something Real Estate is a faith-based nonprofit agency with headquarters in Columbus. Representatives from the group proposed two changes at Wednesday’s meeting.

One change would expand the eligibility for the exit program, now located on East Cook Road, to admit some homeless Richland County sex offenders who committed their crimes locally.

Target populations include homeless sex offenders convicted of failure to register and those who have completed Volunteers of America sex offender treatment.

No sex offenders will be accepted from other counties. The program will provide housing and monitoring, with treatment to be referred to existing local agencies.

The measure passed unanimously.

“It’s hard to keep track of a guy who has no residence,” Common Pleas Judge Brent Robinson said.

Robinson said Judge James DeWeese, who was ill Wednesday, drafted the language.

The other change would be to establish a homeless women’s program in the county, located in two of the houses of the old Crossroads halfway house. The program would initially house up to 15 women who are convicted in and reside in the county.

In other notes from the meeting, Mansfield Safety-Service Director Lori Cope said vehicle thefts in the city have gone up “astronomically.” Such thefts are up 133 percent this year.

Prosecutor Bambi Couch Page offered a reason.

“We have a theft ring that is going on in three counties,” she said. “They’re stealing cars and chopping them.”

After the meeting, Couch Page declined to divulge the other two counties.

In his update, Commissioner Tim Wert asked sheriff’s Maj. Joe Masi about the possibility of deputies wearing body cameras “due to things that are going on nationwide.”

“We’re checking with three different companies; Mansfield police are doing the same thing,” Masi said. “It does come with a hefty price tag. For everyone to have a camera, it would probably be $40,000 to $50,000.” ..Source.. by Mark Caudill

No comments: