Delaware debate: Should towns ban sex offenders?

4-10-15 Delaware:

There are more than 4,500 people on Delaware's sex offender registry – about 1 for every 200 citizens in the state.

In most of Delaware, sex offenders are not permitted to live within 500 feet of a school. But eight towns have written rules expanding that zone five or sixfold, effectively banning sex offenders from their borders.

Milton went the furthest, creating exclusion zones that prohibit sex offenders from living within 3,000 feet of schools, day care centers and public parks.

"The problem with the state law is it does not cover parks and Milton is loaded with parks," said Mayor Marion Jones.

Last year, when attorneys of sex offenders threatened to challenge Milton's more restrictive rules, the town scheduled a hearing to discuss changing the ordinance so there would be place in town where sex offenders could legally live.

But parents pushed back, they didn't want Milton to back down. The hearing never happened because the attorneys didn't follow through with their threat.

"If we were challenged in court, could Milton's ordinance hold up?" Jones said. "Because it's easy for these lawmakers to say, 'Listen, we don't mind if your laws are tighter than the states.' But when push comes to shove in a court of law, we're not sure if that can be upheld." But until that time, she said the town will keep it rules.

There are seven other towns with ordinances that go beyond the state standard. Bridgeville, Felton, Harrington and Houston are almost as restrictive as Milton, keeping those on the registry at least 2,500 feet from schools, playgrounds and other places frequented by children.

More than any other crime, "sex offender" provokes raw reaction and fear from parents. Yet with thousands on Delaware's sex offender registry and more being added every month (more than 1,000 have been added since 2008), municipalities struggle with what to do with the offenders while keeping its children safe.

Experts on the rights of sex offenders say the strategy of more restrictive rules is misguided. They say the laws go too far, treating all offenders in the same category and making it too difficult for them to live near the counseling and other services they need.

"There's been a lot of research over the last 15 years that really shows that all of these things we're really relying on as ways to protect ourselves from these guys are not having any affect," said Chrysanthi Leon, an associate professor at the University of Delaware's Sociology and Criminal Justice department.

She said the problem with more restrictive residency limits is that they can give a false sense of security. Often times, she said, the greater danger is from an offender yet to be caught.

"So we're focusing all this attention and all these resources on people we've already caught and punished when they in fact they don't present most of the risk of new offending," Leon said.

About 12 to 24 percent of sex offenders will re-offend, according to the Center for Sex Offender Management. But most of those offenses are not sexual or violent in nature.

Leon compared those stats to the findings of a 2002 study, published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, that showed 46.9 percent of people released from state or federal prison were convicted of another crime within three years. The same study showed a 5.3 percent sex re-offense rate for sex offenders.

Richard Paredes is a Tier 3 offender, the most risky classification. He said the restrictions work against people like him who are trying to become independent after they get out of prison.

"What do you do," the 56-year-old asked. "If they stop you from getting a job, how do they expect you to make it to live?"

Paredes said he lives monthly off $189 in food stamps, a $90 check and his Medicaid. While thankful for what he gets, Paredes said he and others in his situation are often restricted by these rules from becoming self-sufficient.

Paredes was one of 24 men evicted in 2011 from the Harriet Tubman Safe House Inc., a transitional home on Wilmington's East Side that housed sex offenders until the state Attorney General's Office deemed the building was 500 feet from a learning center and preschool.

Paredes, a former teacher, was able to find housing and worked to open House of Freedom, a faith-based re-entry nonprofit that houses formerly incarcerated men.

He hopes to make a difference that way, despite being on the registry.

EXCLUSION ZONES ARE 20 YEARS OLD

In Delaware, sex offenders are divided into three classifications, Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3. Tier 1 is for those deemed least risky. There are more offenders in Tier 2 (2,750) than Tier 1 (865) and Tier 3 (957) combined.

Tier 3 is reserved for the most dangerous, a person convicted of first-degree rape, for example. But someone can land on Tier 1 if they are convicted in a federal court of taking a picture of a person's private area without their consent when the victim has a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Delaware enacted its first exclusion zones in 1995. More were imposed after the high-profile 2005 murders of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford and 13-year-old Sarah Lunde. The two Florida girls were killed in separate incidents by registered sex offenders.

Ordinances began springing up in Delaware towns such as Dover, Bridgeville and Milton, which passed its sex offender residency law in November 2006.

Nationally, as these ordinances made it tougher for offenders to find housing, the laws were overturned through lawsuits.

New York's Supreme Court in February ruled that local governments cannot restrict where registered sex offenders can live. California Supreme Court last month rejected residence restrictions automatically imposed on all sex offenders, but said authorities would still be able to restrict where offenders live on a case-by-case basis, such as if a child had been a victim.

Former state Rep. Don Blakey, R-Dover, became supportive of standardizing Delaware's exclusion zones after listening to members of Delaware's Sex Offender Management Board, who included police, offender treatment providers and other members of the criminal justice system.

He said the "hodgepodge" of restrictions makes it difficult to track whether offenders are following the rules, based on where they live.

"There is no uniformity at all," he said. "I understand that the towns and the cities and the villages want to be independent, but we are creating a situation where no justice is served at all because a person doesn't know what to do."

But it was an election year, and Blakey felt his colleagues would not get behind such a measure. He lost his re-election bid and his proposal faded away.

"It's still there," Blakey said. "Somebody can pick it up. I don't know whether anybody will or not." He said he was told by members of the management board that they would bring it to the attention of legislators.

Election year or not, it is not a popular topic among lawmakers who know it could be a tough sell to parents, especially in towns where tougher restrictions are in place.

Terrence Nelson said he feels safe letting his kids, ages 2 to 13, play in Milton and would not be happy having to live by the state;s 500-foot standard.

"I definitely support the idea of them living 3,000 feet away from a school or a park," Nelson said as he watched his youngest son on a swing in Milton Memorial Park recently.

"I'm comfortable with the fact that I can have my kids walking around. I can have them out with their older sister and not really worry about them being approached by sex offenders or predators."

Brooke Pikolas is a mother who lives between Milton and Lewes who frequently checks the sex offender registry to see who lives near her and her child.

"As a mother, I have a 31/2-year-old, and I think it should be public knowledge where a sexual offender resides, especially if it's near a school," she said. "I'm for the strictest laws when it comes to that.

"I'm definitely aware of where we live and the sexual offenders in our area."

Several other parents in Milton interviewed for this story also said they approved of having the more stringent exclusion zones. But one, Lauren Price, 31, said the restrictions should be placed on offenders based on what they have done.

"It really depends on the circumstances of the sex offender," she said, adding she was not opposed to residency restrictions. The mother of three said laws are not a guarantee that your children will be safe.

"It's not so much the law, as the parenting," Price said. "As long as you are paying attention to your kids, the law shouldn't really be a huge impact on where your kids play or what your kids do."

STIGMA, RESTRICTIONS ARE FACTORS

Finding transitional housing for this population is "extremely" difficult, according to Delaware authorities. With about more than 4,000 registered sex offenders in the state, there needs to be a safe place where they can live and be monitored by law enforcement.

Yet stigma and residency restrictions make this difficult.

"In the work that I've done within re-entery, a lot of programs will not work with sex offenders because they are too difficult," said Jay Lynch, the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services point person on re-entry. "Not them per say, but the population."

Most re-entry programs are looking for people to succeed in the community. So when programs realize that a sex offender comes with such challenges, such as where they can live, the programs stay away from that population, Lynch said.

That's a big reason Doviea Lee opened Change Transitional House, where she can house up to 10 men in the 500 block of Sixth Street.

Lee hopes to some day open a transitional house for women, adding she doesn't see her residents as sex offenders, rather as individuals.

"I look at them as a person who needs home stability, needs to be able to get on their feet and move along," she said. "My heart allows me to do this on a day-to-day basis."

But that's not what the surrounding community thinks.

Several mothers across the street from the three-story house were shocked to learn sex offenders were living there. At least two mothers interviewed said their shock was more at not being informed that sex offenders were living there.

Tangier Lloyd, a mother of five children, ages 4 to 16, said she understands offenders need a place to live, but it was more of a concern that residents were not told.

"They have the right to be out there like the rest of us, but just let us know," she said.

For Tier 2 and Tier 3 offenders, schools and daycare centers are notified when an offender registers as residing, being employed or studying in the area. Additionally, for Tier 3 offenders, immediate neighbors are notified. Change provides housing for at least two Tier 3 offenders, according to the state's sex offender registry.

"Community notification is made by the police agency having jurisdiction over the offender's place of residency, employment, or study," the registry said.

Shayla Jones said if informed, neighbors could keep an eye on their children playing outside.

"My kids are going in the backyard," Jones said of her two children.

She said she would be looking up residents of the Change house: "Just keep looking them up so you know the faces and I'll tell my kids to stay away from them."

While the state does not have to authorize such homes, Wilmington Councilman Michael A. Brown Sr. said it would have been considerate of Change officials to let nearby residents know who was living there.

"They did it wrong and they went into a community that was already in despair," Brown said.

Joseph Eugene, 30, is one of the men living at Wilmington's Change Transitional House.

A TV and game console are parked next to his mattress on the wooden floor of his second-story bedroom. Two other mattresses rest against the wall. A box of Crystal Light, some Reese's Pieces and a bottle of pancake syrup lay on a nearby coffee table.

It may not be much, but for Joseph, a high risk sex offender, this shelter has allowed him to remain out of prison, he said. Before coming to Change, Joseph said it was difficult to find stable housing that helped him keep a job.

He'd stay at motels, but if he didn't have money for the week's rent he was out on the street making it difficult to stay employed and in compliance with the law.

"I've been here for almost a year and I have no problems," said Joseph. Change offers stable shelter and he now has a job as a dishwasher and has stayed out of trouble. "I got my job and that's when things started progressing." ..Source.. by Esteban Parra