8-11-2011 Ohio:
3 sex offenders had not registered with Mansfield police
MANSFIELD -- City officials say they knew nothing about a month-old transitional housing unit for ex-criminals until informed Tuesday by the News Journal.
The Community Residential Center, 303 W. Fifth St., opened July 1 and houses three men who are convicted sex offenders.
Interim Safety-Service Director Phil Messer said he's disgusted by the whole situation.
"I feel that the (Ohio Department of Correction and Rehabilitation) was purposely trying to keep this all quiet," said Messer, the city's former police chief and an outspoken critic of sex offender assistance programs in Mansfield. "No one knew about this. I didn't know, the mayor didn't know, the law director didn't know, the judges didn't know and our police chief didn't know.
"If they told someone they were coming here, I'd like to know who it was."
The 21-bed facility is operating out of the former Crossroads Center for Change. Although Crossroads was a halfway house that provided rehabilitation services, the Community Residential Center helps homeless offenders who have completed their prison time transition back into society. One of the goals is to help them find employment.
The program is operated by Nothing Into Something Real Estate Inc. The facility is licensed and funded by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
On Wednesday, Messer said he visited the center and told sex offenders David Byer, 40; Anthony Curtis Bibb, 37; and Brian Paul Hanna, 46, that they were violating the city's felon registration requirements.
Although the three provided their information for the Richland County Sex Offender Registry last week, Messer said they also had to register with the Mansfield Police Department. If not, they would be arrested.
All three said they were unaware of the additional mandate and adhered to the requirements.
Messer still wasn't satisfied.
"I'm very upset with the ODRC," he said. "This community does not need any more centers to treat offenders. And for them to open this facility without even seeking our input is not right. If this place stands, people here need to contact the governor."
Messer said Mansfield Law Director Dave Remy is researching the facility's statutes to see if any violations have occurred. He said the city should know more by the end of this week.
Carlo LoParo, communications supervisor for the ODRC, said the state pays about $32 a day for each offender.
According to Michele Johnson, CEO of NISRE, offenders at the center must return to their city of origin at the end of their stay -- usually 90 days. However, extensions are permitted.
"Even if they find employment here, they still have to return to their own city when 90 days is up," Johnson said. "That's just how it works."
Hanna, convicted of raping a young girl, said he was transferred to Mansfield from a Columbus unit, also operated by the NISRE, and has already received an extension on his stay.
"It's a lot more peaceful in Mansfield than where I was in Columbus," he said. "It allows us more of a chance to get our thoughts together."
Hanna said he has a medical condition and cannot work.
"This is all about money," Messer said. "I'll bet 90 days is the maximum amount of time the ODRC can use taxpayer dollars for each guy."
According to Messer, Johnson told him Wednesday she would fax him paperwork verifying that she did inform city officials of the incoming program. But by the end of the day Wednesday, the paperwork still had not arrived, he said. ..Source.. by Jami Kinton, News Journal
August 11, 2011
Mansfield officials say they knew nothing about transitional housing unit
February 26, 2010
Julia Tuttle Causeway sex offender enclave being dismantled
Ron Book and his Trust could be in serious trouble, if, the source of his funding is FEDERAL HUD money. Federal HUD funding is not allowed to be used for most sex offenders: SEE HERE.2-26-2010 Florida:
The make-shift shantytown under the Julia Tuttle Causeway -- once home to more than 100 sex offenders -- is finally being dismantled.
The people living under the bridge have been a major source of controversy for years, stirring up political debate over where sex offenders should be allowed to live after their release from prison.
On Friday, a handful of residents -- not all of them sex offenders -- wandered amid the piles of wood, mattresses, empty tin cans and shredded tents that was once home to the excommunicated community.
In recent days, the shacks have been torn down, as officials with the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust slowly relocate the offenders to apartments, motels and trailer parks with promises that their rent will be paid for up to six months.
``They are moving people out of here left and right,'' said Terry Morton, a sex offender who has lived in a camper parked in the bushes for about a year.
He said they are talking about relocating him to a campground, and others have been moved into local apartments and motels.
Still, as homeless people are moved out, others move in.
Liza, a homeless woman for the past six years, arrived a couple of weeks ago, hoping that she, like the others, could get more stable housing offered by Miami-Dade officials. She filed her paperwork earlier in the week.
``I'm ecstatic,'' said Liza, who is not a sex offender.
But she and others also worry about how they are going to pay the rent after the six-month grant period is over.
The homeless enclave grew as local municipalities approved strict residency requirements that leave sex offenders with few, if any, places to live.
Under state law, sex offenders can't live within 1,000 feet of schools, child-care centers, parks or other areas where kids congregate. Miami-Dade has stricter requirements -- a 2,500-foot ban.
Miami Beach's law, for example, prohibits sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of a school, bus stop, park, playground ``and other places where children can congregate.''
In January, Miami-Dade commissioners passed a sex offender ordinance that repeals more than 24 different sex offender laws enacted by municipalities within the county's borders. The new law creates one standard that commissioners hope will balance the need to protect children while still giving housing options to sex offenders and predators.
The ordinance also creates a new provision that supporters say is a more workable and realistic solution to protecting children: child-safety zones.
Under the child-safety zones, sex offenders are prohibited from loitering within 300 feet of where children congregate. In other words, it restricts sex offenders from being near children, but doesn't leave them homeless.
Currently, about 30 sexual offenders still live under the causeway, mostly in thin tents and cardboard boxes. In most cases, the sex offenders were placed under the bridge upon their release from prison by the state Department of Corrections. ..Source.. JULIE BROWN
February 9, 2010
Neighbors Want to get Lincoln County Sex Offenders' Haven Closed
If it is determined that something is not according to law about the Haven, hopefully whatever it is, is also applied to others living in the vicinity. It would be a shame -or unlawful- to apply a different standard to the Haven than to other folks in the vicinity.2-9-2010 Oklahoma:
Lincoln County officials say they don’t think foundation complies with law
CHANDLER — Mickie Hatfield said she and her husband moved from Edmond to rural Lincoln County eight years ago for a slower pace of life and better peace of mind.
Her biggest worry was snakes, so she learned to use a shotgun.
These days snakes are the least of her troubles, she said, because now she has eight sex offenders as neighbors.
Hatfield, 59, said she keeps that shotgun handy in her kitchen.
Phil and Mickie Hatfield’s 130 acres is adjacent to land where Tom Wright is housing eight sex offenders. For the past two years, Wright has used the property three miles north of Chandler as a home base for his foundation aimed at helping registered sex offenders by offering them room and board in exchange for carpentry work for his business, Wright Way Homes.
Wright said the proceeds for his business go back into his foundation to help sex offenders who might otherwise be homeless. He said God is directing him to help them.
"I’m going to keep going until God tells me otherwise,” Wright said in an interview last week with The Oklahoman.
The Hatfields and their neighbors found out in January what Wright was doing and want him shut down. They say authorities are moving slowly and seem reluctant to close his operation, even though he may be violating the law.
"We have enough sex offenders of our own in this county,” Mickie Hatfield said. "We don’t want our community to be known as a safe haven for them, because before long it won’t be safe for the average person.”
Five of the eight sex offenders living on Wright’s property are classified as level 3 offenders, requiring they stay registered forever. Their crimes include child molestation, rape, lewd acts with a child and sexual battery.
Records show there are 90 registered sex offenders in Lincoln County.
Sheriff plans to visit foundation owner
Assistant District Attorney Clayton Niemeyer said since the neighborhood has become aware of Wright’s operation he’s been getting calls almost daily from concerned residents.
"It’s like owning a chicken ranch and having someone move in next door with a coyote farm,” Niemeyer said. "A lot of these people have children and don’t feel safe anymore.”
Niemeyer said he doesn’t think Wright is in compliance with the law that requires a treatment center provide licensed professional counselors, and that those on parole not be living with other sex offenders. He said until the sheriff brings him evidence, he can’t charge Wright with a crime.
Sheriff Chuck Mangion said he plans to visit Wright this morning and tell him to cease his operation until he meets legal requirements for a treatment center.
Mangion said he won’t elaborate on what could happen next until he has spoken with Wright.
About 25 neighbors and concerned residents met Saturday at a local church to discuss what could be done.
Mickie Hatfield said they’re going to continue to stay vigilant with authorities and possibly take out an advertisement in the local newspaper to educate people that their money is going to help convicted rapists and child molesters if they do business with Wright Way Homes.
She said a civil lawsuit also was discussed.
"One of the worst parts about all this is that the people that live around him (Wright) have had to change their lives to satisfy his whim,” said Gerry Greenfield-Elliot, who lives about a mile from Wright.
Greenfield-Elliot, 77, said a Girl Scout camp has been on her property for more than 40 years. She said she’ll be meeting with leaders this week to determine whether they can continue to have the summer, overnight camp stays.
Parents living nearby have changed their work schedules to ensure their children aren’t left home alone, she said.
"We were living quietly in the country until all this,” Greenfield-Elliot said. "Now we’re all scared to leave our doors unlocked.” ..Source.. ANN KELLEY
February 4, 2010
Sex Offenders' recovery group raises concerns in Chandler
Lincoln County man says he’s providing ‘a second chance’
CHANDLER — These days, a simple Bible verse about helping others brings Tom Wright to tears.
The Lincoln County man thumbs through the red, leather-bound book he keeps handy at his desk, finding his favorite passage in Matthew.
He said his ministry to help men no one else will — sex offenders — is God’s will.
And he doesn’t plan to stop, despite opposition from some county officials.
"It hurts me to see that some people don’t understand what we’re doing here,” Wright said. "We’re trying to help these men establish a new life. Everyone deserves a second chance.”
Wright is housing eight registered sex offenders on his property about two miles north of Chandler. He said he’s been doing it for more than two years without a complaint from the community until he started to build a sewer lagoon that angered some of his neighbors.
Sheriff Chuck Mangion said Wright doesn’t appear to be breaking any laws, but if he decides to go along with plans to expand his outfit, he will have to follow the legal requirements of a treatment center. Among other requirements, he will have to provide licensed counselors, he said.
Wright is building small cabins to house as many as 15 men.
Mangion said some residents are concerned, because there is a camp used by Girl Scouts about a mile away.
He and other county officials, including an assistant district attorney, met with Wright last week. Wright told them then he probably wouldn’t go through with the expansion, but he has since changed his mind.
Wright said he started his foundation, Labor of Victorious Examples, also known as LOVE, to help registered sex offenders re-establish themselves in society.
During the day the men work for his company, Wright Way Homes, building houses on site to be sold and moved to another location. All proceeds go into his foundation to fund the ministry, he said.
The men don’t earn a paycheck. Wright said they work for room and board, to cover any past court fines and keep up with any other expenses they may have incurred. When they graduate from the program a year later, they’re given two months wages to help them get started, he said.
While there, they’re required to attend Bible study, Wright said.
Patrick Rantz, 45, said no one was willing to help him when he was released from prison for child molestation. He said he would have been homeless had Wright and his wife, Rose, not accepted him in their ministry.
"When you’re a registered sex offender, no one is willing to help you and they treat you like you’re not human,” Rantz said. "I felt hopeless before I came here, but now I’m rebuilding my life.”
Rantz, an Air Force veteran, said he plans to get financial aid and return to school.
There are 90 registered sex offenders in Lincoln County. Mangion said he’s concerned Wright’s ministry will import more.
He said two men that once lived on Wright’s property were made to leave last year because they allegedly burglarized Wright’s home while he lay in the hospital battling cancer. Those men are now homeless, living in tents outside of town, he said.
They walk four miles into Chandler once a week to report to the sheriff’s office as required by law, Mangion said. "They’re not breaking any laws so we can’t make them leave, but this can’t keep happening,” Mangion said.
Wright said he thinks residents have nothing to fear because the men in his program are better supervised than the 83 others in the community. He said he can’t guarantee the safety of everyone, but he feels that as long as he’s doing God’s will, positive things will happen. ..Source..ANN KELLEY
August 1, 2009
CO- Shelter's shift could oust 33 parolees
8-1-2009 Colorado:
Corrections staff face a tough search to find new housing for seven sex offenders.
Parole officers are searching for homes for up to 33 parolees — including seven sex offenders — after learning that the Salvation Army shelter where they are staying is becoming a transitional living facility.
The charity is scheduled to convert Crossroads, at 1901 29th St., into a transitional living facility for homeless men by Aug. 17, said Capt. Ron McKinney, spokesman for the Metro Denver Salvation Army, though the date could be postponed.
Some parolees will be allowed to stay if they agree to the new programming rules of the transitional facility, which will encourage homeless men to move toward self-sufficiency, McKinney said. But all parolees who are sex offenders must leave, he said.
A Denver city ordinance prohibits sex offenders from living in a transitional living facility, he said.
The shelter is the only one that accepts sex offenders, said Katherine Sanguinetti, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Corrections.
"If we had homes for them, we would have had them in them already," Sanguinetti said.
DOC officers are calling parolees' relatives and looking for rentals in the area, she said.
"This is an absolute nightmare for sex offenders," said Kathie Izor, a board member of Colorado Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants. "Nobody wants a sex offender in their neighborhood."
The Salvation Army will turn the warehouse-sized shelter into a transitional living facility designed to wean Denver's homeless from dependent living, McKinney said.
"We seek to assist the individual caught in the circumstance of homelessness to become equipped to move on to stable, independent living," he said in the news release.
Because of funding limitations, the charity cannot meet all needs, he said. The new facility will have more programs to help men find jobs and permanent homes.
Several parolees who were lined up on the west side of the shelter Friday afternoon said they have no alternatives and may end up living on the street.
"My options from here are slim and none," said Kevin Dawkins, 47, a convicted robber released from Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility near Crowley on May 24. "I'm disabled, bipolar, schizophrenic."
Daryl Gibson, 46, convicted in 2007 of assault, was paroled in November. He said he has been looking for work every day, but he has limited education and there aren't many day-labor openings.
"I lost everything when I went to prison: my house, my car," Dawkins said. "I won't even have a place to lay my head. It's very depressing." ..Source.. by Kirk Mitchell, The Denver Post
October 18, 2008
PA- Sex offender housing case is appealed
9-23-2008 Pennsylvania:
Armstrong contests Marietta zoning law ruling, goes to county court.
The controversy over sex offenders living in Marietta doesn't appear to be over yet.
Former state Rep. Tom Armstrong, a Marietta resident, confirms he has filed an appeal to Lancaster County Court seeking to overturn a borough ruling against him.
Armstrong had vowed to fight the latest ruling so he can continue to house three convicted sex offenders in his Marietta house, and he has now followed through on that promise.
His motion, filed Sept. 11, seeks to overturn a Marietta Zoning Hearing Board ruling from early August.
The zoning board had ruled that Armstrong's housing of the men in his house at 704 E. Market St. violated borough rules.
Earlier in the summer, Marietta's zoning officer, Mark Harman, issued Armstrong a cease-and-desist notice, ordering him to move the men from his home.
Armstrong appealed to the zoning board, which issued its decision after a lengthy meeting in early August.
In his appeal to county court, Armstrong says that Harman "failed to undertake reasonable investigation" before issuing the enforcement notice against him.
Armstrong also maintains that the borough's zoning law doesn't address differences between temporary or permanent residents, and he "disputes the conclusion that the three unrelated individuals" living in his house "do not constitute a family."
Armstrong attorney Jim Clymer, who filed the new six-page appeal, had argued in August that for nearly 20 years Armstrong has housed three or more veterans at one time without interference from the borough.
Borough attorney Shawn Long, who declined comment today on the appeal, had differed with Clymer's take on the issue.
Among other things, Long said at one public meeting, several Pennsylvania court decisions disallow similar boarding situations in residential areas for drug addicts, alcoholics and even abused children.
The men in Armstrong's house are listed on the Megan's Law Web site, which lists home addresses of the state's registered sex offenders.
All three men were still listed today as living at Armstrong's house.
The issue has drawn a strong reaction from many in Marietta.
There have been protests in front of Armstrong's house, and meetings on the subject have been heavily-attended.
One opponent called the men "individuals who don't reflect the community here."
But Armstrong strongly feels the effort to provide housing to the men is his Christian duty — saying they're "the lepers of our society" who everyone wants to cast out — and also that he has standards for the men he accepts.
"They have to prove they want to change," Armstrong said.
He moved the men into his house in early June, after they had left a halfway house in Conestoga Township.
It's not known when the appeal will be heard in county court. ..News Source.. by DAVID O’CONNOR, Staff
August 26, 2008
PA- Attempt to help sex offenders offends town
The world needs more folks like Tom Armstrong, who is willing to put beliefs ahead of prejudicies and biases to make society a better place to live. Yet, if it were not for prejudices and biases we couldn't tell who the good folks are; strange.
8-26-2008 Pennsylvania:
MARIETTA, Pa. - It was bad enough when Tom Armstrong brought goats and chickens onto his property in this impeccably restored mill town on the Susquehanna River, his neighbors say. But this summer, they say, he went too far when he moved in three sex offenders.
The former tough-on-crime state legislator quietly opened his doors to the men in June, shattering the serenity of the borough of 2,700 and scattering his own family.
"I'm not happy having sex offenders living next to my children," said Wendy Alkinburgh, a mother of four children younger than 7. "I used to let them play in the backyard, with me at the kitchen window. I can't do that anymore."
After residents packed community meetings, circulated flyers with the men's pictures, and pressed officials for action, the borough zoning board ruled that Armstrong had violated an ordinance limiting the number of unrelated people who can live together.
He said he planned to appeal and was convinced that once the community "is educated about who sex offenders are," neighbors would be more welcoming.
"These are fantastic guys," Armstrong, 49, a genial Republican who was voted out of office in 2002, said in his Victorian-decorated living room with two of his tenants.
Now an insurance salesman who has held a number of jobs, including landlord, controller, janitorial service owner, commercial property developer, Amish buggy operator, and goat-meat salesman, Armstrong said he was motivated by faith to help sex offenders who are struggling to find housing as cities across the country adopt tougher laws to keep them out.
"There are 160 men in state prisons that are able to come home, but they can't because they don't have anywhere to go," said Armstrong. "Ultimately, we need to find more homes for them in Lancaster County."
During his 12 years as a state representative, Armstrong adopted tough stands on abortion, taxes and crime, but took up the issue of prisoners' rights about eight years ago, after his brother was arrested for exposing himself.
Armstrong began mentoring prisoners through Justice and Mercy, a local volunteer program, and saw sex offenders sitting in jail because they had nowhere to go. Last spring, he helped four of them move into a rented home in Conestoga that he planned to expand to accommodate 30, but they were driven out by angry neighbors.
So, in the "What-would-Jesus-do?" spirit, he decided to take three of the men - convicted of rape, molesting a 15-year-old girl, and downloading child pornography - into his 15-room, century-old home. They each pay $100 a week in rent.
The move is temporary, while he makes another stab at a group setting, this one three miles away in Columbia, if he can get state approval and funding.
In the past, he has taken in veterans, and Marietta's zoning law, which states that up to four unrelated people may live together, was never an issue, he said. The key word, apparently, is may.
"The decision of the borough is that may means may or may not," said Armstrong's attorney, Jim Clymer. "In this case, the zoning officer decided that may means may not."
Borough officials did not respond to calls for interviews.
Opening his home to sex offenders has split up Armstrong's own family. His 16-year-old daughter cannot live there because one of the men, convicted rapist Richard Owen, is not permitted to reside with minors.
Armstrong said she and his wife, Janice, moved out in June to care for Janice Armstrong's critically ill mother in Lancaster, not because of the boarders. "I didn't tear apart my family," he said
The mother and daughter, who are still in Lancaster, say they are happy to help out.
"I'm fine with the guys being there," Janice Armstrong said. Her mother died Aug. 12, but she will remain at the home to sell it.
Christine Armstrong, who is home-schooled, said that her father "wouldn't bring anyone he wouldn't trust into his home," and that she liked living in Lancaster.
"They're good men," she said. On Saturday nights, she sleeps at a neighbor's house in Marietta because she has a Sunday-morning paper route.
Armstrong's son, Tom, 19, recently moved to a nearby apartment and is attending college.
After his brother's conviction, for which he served five years in jail, Armstrong decided that restrictive housing laws, which generally bar sex offenders from living near schools, playgrounds or day-care centers, were doing more harm than good.
In Pennsylvania, about 130 municipalities have passed residency restrictions for sex violators and many more are considering it, state parole board officials said. Opponents say that those laws do nothing to increase public safety and that prisoners end up spending more time in jail because they can't find housing.
Lauren Taylor, executive director of the state's Sexual Offenders Assessment Board, said even halfway houses shun sex offenders because they don't want to deal with community opposition. "We really need to get our arms around the issue, so we're looking at what really impacts public safety, not what makes us feel better," she said.
There are almost 13,000 sex offenders in the state registered with Megan's Law, which requires them to give their whereabouts to police, who notify the public through an online registry.
That's how Marietta neighbors found out about the town's newest residents. They say they're angrier at Armstrong, for not warning them, than at the men.
"It's like putting 10 overweight people in a grocery store and saying, 'Don't go near the doughnuts,' " said Lauren Hughes, 18, who lives across the street from Armstrong with her parents and 19-year-old sister.
Her mother, Mary Jo Hughes, called Armstrong "sanctimonious."
She said she had planned to move but didn't think she could sell her house after all the publicity. It's not the first time Armstrong has riled neighbors, she said, mentioning the goats and chickens.
"I don't lock my doors. I don't lock my cars. We don't have to. But he's making it that kind of place, and that bothers me," she said.
"Why can't they find an older home in Lancaster County farmland, rehab it, grow tomatoes, whatever?" she said.
Though Eric Umholtz, a father of four down the street, believes everyone deserves a second chance, he's not taking any chances with his own children. He showed them the men's pictures and told them to stay away.
That kind of scrutiny should ease people's fears, the men said. After all, there are two other Megan's Law offenders in Marietta whom nobody knew about until the controversy erupted.
"Would they rather have me living on my own in an isolated area or in a mentored, faith-based home where I'm being monitored?" asked Owen, 51, who has also served time for armed robbery and simple and indecent assault.
In May 2007, he was free to leave Lancaster County prison but had to stay an extra year because he didn't have housing.
"I've paid my debt, but society keeps footing the bill. How is that beneficial for anyone?" he asked.
His roommates are Paul Studdard, a former science librarian at Millersville University who was convicted of possessing child pornography, and Richard Barker, 68, who assaulted the minor.
Barker, who likes to walk his dog and attend the nearby Mennonite church - which has welcomed him as long as he has an escort - said he just wanted to live in peace. "We're crying out for people to help us," said the divorced father. "I want to become a part of the community and help the community."
And while they may sympathize, many neighbors would rather the men start over someplace else.
"They have a right to construct new lives," said Alkinburgh, whose children are barred from going into Armstrong's backyard. "But the crimes that they committed are inexcusable." ..News Source.. by Kathy Boccella, Inquirer Staff Writer
August 15, 2008
PA- Crusading Ex-Pa. Lawmaker Takes in Sex Offenders
Also on NPR Radio
8-15-2008 Pennsylvania:
Ex-Pa. lawmaker takes 3 sex offenders into his home, alarms the neighbors
A former tough-on-crime Pennsylvania lawmaker has adopted a new and unpopular cause, taking into his home three sex offenders who couldn't find a place to live — a stand that has angered neighbors, drawn pickets and touched off a zoning dispute.
As cities across the nation pass ever-tighter laws to keep out people convicted of sex crimes, Tom Armstrong said he is drawing on his religious belief in forgiveness and sheltering the three men until he can open a halfway house for sex offenders.
"I think that our system is trying to treat everybody under a particular brand and it doesn't work," he said. "And because of that we're creating housing problems, we're creating employment problems, we're creating community problems, and it's needless and it's not warranted."
Nearly 100 Pennsylvania municipalities have ordinances restricting where sex offenders may live. The ordinances generally bar them from moving in next to schools, playgrounds or other places where children might gather.
In early June, Armstrong quietly allowed a rapist and two other sex offenders who had served prison time to move into his 15-room century-old home 75 miles west of Philadelphia after another town blocked his plans for the halfway house. Soon, word got out after Armstrong's address appeared on the state Web site that lists the whereabouts of convicted sex offenders.
Residents of this former mill town of 2,700 on the Susquehanna River packed community meetings, circulated fliers with the men's mugshots and pressed officials for action.
"I understand how everybody deserves a second chance and all, but I'm not willing to risk my children and my neighbors to find out if they're rehabilitated or not," said Elizabeth Fulton, a mother of four who lives two blocks from Armstrong.
The town's zoning officer promptly taped a violation notice to the former lawmaker's door, citing an ordinance that limits the number of unrelated people who can live together. Armstrong is fighting the violation. ..News Source.. by MARC LEVY
June 18, 2008
NV- Unwanted trade: Boarders for group home residents
6-18-2008 Nevada:
Switch cuts short neighbors’ rejoicing
The neighbors of Eagle Ridge Manor, a trouble-prone group home for the elderly and the mentally ill, successfully petitioned county commissioners to revoke the home’s business license in March.
But their activism has crossed paths with the old saw about being careful what you wish for.
The home’s owner turned it into a boardinghouse. Neighbors say problems have continued, the most notable recent example being a dead body that turned up this month at the home, apparently the result of a prescription drug overdose.
Today the neighbors are asking themselves what they’ve created.
Despite its rather lofty name, Eagle Ridge Manor is a simple five-bedroom, single-family home tucked into a residential cul-de-sac in the northwest part of the valley.
For years, it’s been an irritant to neighbors. A registered sex offender lived there briefly and occasionally begged for change at the private school behind the home, according to school officials. State regulators found problems with how the home managed patients’ medications.
And many neighbors tell horror stories about the home. Perhaps the strangest: An Eagle Ridge resident allegedly forced her way into a neighboring home and began baking brownies in the kitchen.
Alegria de Venecia, who lives at the house and manages it for her son, was dismissive of most of the complaints when she appeared before Clark County commissioners in March. She said she moved out the sex offender when she discovered his background and corrected the mistakes found by state regulators. Her neighbors lacked evidence for most of their allegations, she said.
The commissioners, though, sided with the neighbors and closed the group home, ordering the tenants out within 20 days. The neighbors celebrated their victory with hugs and tears outside commission chambers.
Those neighbors now are wondering whether their celebration was premature.
De Venecia has turned Eagle Ridge into a boardinghouse, renting rooms for $400 a month, primarily to the homeless.
As a result, neighbors say, the problems have amplified.
“The situation has just gotten worse,” said Joyce Sportsman, who lives two doors down from the home.
Two weeks ago, she said, her 17-year-old son and his friend had to fend off with a stick an Eagle Ridge resident who jumped out from behind a bush to accost them. De Venecia denies the man was her tenant.
A few days later, neighbors found police cars and ambulances parked in the cul-de-sac after a 32-year-old tenant died in one of the home’s bedrooms. Police found the man on the floor with foam coming out of his nose and mouth. The man had in his possession an empty bottle of hydrocodone prescribed to someone else, police said.
“It’s insanity that this can go on,” Sportsman said. “Now people are dying.”
But there’s little Sportsman and her neighbors can do because boardinghouses — unlike group homes — do not require business licenses or visits from regulators.
“It’s an absolute nightmare,” said Karen Butta, another neighbor. “Now she is taking in the homeless with no background checks.”
De Venecia acknowledged that she doesn’t ask her tenants too many questions. “If they are just renting, I don’t go too much into their personal business,” she said.
De Venecia is striking back at the neighbors. She said she called the county last week to allege that the Butta family is illegally running a landscaping business out of its house. The county’s public response office found a commercial vehicle parked in the driveway and asked that it be moved, and it was.
For their part, Sportsman and Butta aren’t giving up. They are distributing disposable cameras to neighbors and asking them to document the numbers and characters of the home’s tenants. Call it guerrilla activism.
The idea is to establish a case against the home. The Eagle Ridge property is zoned residential, so it is prohibited from housing more than four occupants in addition to the owner and his or her relatives. Sportsman and other neighbors suspect the home is in violation, but de Venecia says she has only three tenants, one of them a relative.
A county public response officer visited the home recently and found evidence of four tenants — one more than de Venecia told the Sun about but still below the legal limit.
The fourth tenant was the one who died, de Venecia said. ..News Source.. by Tony Cook
June 1, 2008
ND- States give sex offenders place to live
6-1-2008 North Dakota:
Ellric Giroux and Andy Perhus were turned down a combined 38 times before they found a place to live.
They don’t have bad credit. They’re sex offenders.
Some potential landlords are open-minded. Others hang up the phone after hearing that the interested tenant is a registered sex offender, Giroux said.
Giroux makes it a point to tell landlords upfront so there aren’t problems later. He also tries to thank them for their time, even if they’re not interested.
“I’m not opposed to people knowing,” said Giroux, who was convicted in 1997 of gross sexual imposition for an incident with a 15-year-old when he was 19. “People are afraid of what they don’t know; it’s human nature.”
Perhus was convicted in 2003 of burglary and two counts of criminal trespass for entering private residences and stealing female undergarments. His probation was revoked in 2006 after he was found with female and children’s undergarments, according to the city’s sex offender site.
Both Giroux and Perhus recently landed at 1315 1st Ave. N., No. 6, in Fargo following their release from prison.
The North Dakota Department of Corrections leases the apartment as transitional housing, said Barb Breiland, program manager for the North Dakota Sex Offender Specialist Unit.
For $7 a day – which includes utilities – “it beats living on the street,” said Giroux, who was homeless for a year in Minneapolis.
The Minnesota Department of Corrections has a similar transitional housing program in Moorhead. The agency uses a home in the 1900 block of First Avenue South for up to four recently released offenders.
“Offenders are placed there so they’re not living in their car, they’re not living under a bridge,” said Shari Burt, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections.
Burt said the housing allows the state to use supervision tools, such as home monitoring, for residents who usually stay 30 to 90 days while looking for permanent housing or employment.
“We believe that it improves, it enhances public safety,” she said.
Two offenders now live at the residence.
Finding housing can be difficult and frustrating for sex offenders after they’re released from incarceration, said Bernice Jamgochian, whose grandson, Allen, is a registered sex offender.
He was convicted in 2007 of gross sexual imposition for an incident involving a 14-year-old female relative. He was also convicted of corruption of a minor in 2005 for an incident involving a 15-year-old female acquaintance, according to the city’s sex offender Web site.
Jamgochian said they struggled at first, but found a place at 1423 6th Ave. S. in Fargo with the help of Cass County social services.
Pete Sabo, who owns the building Jamgochian lives in, said he has never had a problem with any of the sex offenders he has had as tenants.
“I find them to be excellent renters,” Sabo said. “They pay their rent on time. They don’t want any trouble. They go to work on time. They’ve never so much as bothered any other tenants.”
The Fargo businessman tries to look at all the circumstances surrounding a sex offender being required to register, adding he checks the story they give him with each individual’s probation officer.
But Sabo said he isn’t a fan of renting to convicted child molesters.
“If they’re molesting little girls, I don’t think a lifetime sentence would be enough for them,” he said.
Sabo said he has had a few residents complain about him renting to sex offenders, “but the ones that are complaining are the worst tenants I’ve got.”
Jamgochian’s grandson had problems with neighbors at his last residence, which resulted in him going back to jail for a probation violation, she said.
Jamgochian thinks her grandson might have better luck this time with his new neighbors.
Jim Mahlke, who lives in the same building as Jamgochian and just down the hall from another high-risk sex offender, said he doesn’t have any problem with his neighbors.
“They did their time; they served their sentence,” Mahlke said. “Everybody’s got a right to live somewhere.”
Most of the neighbors of Giroux and Perhus have been friendly, Giroux said. Several other sex offenders have lived in the neighborhood near their apartment and have since relocated. About a block up the street, two high-risk sex offenders live one house away from one another.
Neither have been a problem for neighbor Sonja Johnson, although she said she appreciates being aware of the men’s histories.
“It doesn’t make any difference to me if he lives there as long as he doesn’t bother me,” she said of neighbor Jeffrey Theisen, 1413 1st Ave. N.
Theisen was convicted of gross sexual imposition in juvenile court in 1997 for an incident involving a female known to him who was younger than age 15. He is one of a few sex offenders who have moved frequently in the past several months, according to offender relocation notifications Fargo police send to the public.
Authorities can’t force someone to live somewhere, said Fargo police Lt. Pat Claus.
Two detectives are assigned to monitor the city’s sex offenders, a task Claus said has become more than a secondary duty.
The detectives estimate that almost 50 percent of their week goes into keeping tabs on sex offenders, Claus said.
Giroux said he understands why sex offenders have to register. He said he believes it helps give the community a better sense of protection and awareness.
“I’m all for that; I have children myself,” he said. “I don’t mind them scrutinizing me. I’m not doing anything wrong.”
For the most part, he feels he is pretty much left alone by the public, although he knows there are some people who are uncomfortable with his situation.
“If people don’t like me because of that, that’s one less person that I’ve got to deal with,” Giroux said. ..News Source.. by Brittany Lawonn, The Forum
May 20, 2008
PA- Can twp. evict 3 men?
Conestoga solicitor questions zoning for sex-offender halfway house. Over 300 jam meeting.
5-20-2008 Pennsylvania:
Residents' outcry over three sex offenders living in a new halfway house in Conestoga reached a boiling point Monday night.
More than 300 people filled Conestoga Volunteer Fire Company, some demanding that the men convicted of aggravated indecent assault, rape and possession of child pornography be forced to leave.
Jim Thomas, Conestoga Township's solicitor, said they may get their wish.
He said former state Rep. Tom Armstrong's Barnabas House, run in an apartment at 3113 Main St., Conestoga, does not comply with the property's village mixed-use zoning and is permitted only by special exception.
"Whether it is a good or bad social program, whether it is a group home for Megan's Law offenders or for students at a local university" doesn't matter, Thomas said.
Armstrong said today that the township's zoning officer, Jim Hindes, told him a different story in April.
Armstrong said he asked Hindes if a group of ex-convicts could live in an apartment at the property, which is owned by Ben Vonderheide, who also lives at the address.
Hindes said the "best he could read (the zoning ordinance said) that I could have four" people, Armstrong said.
Armstrong said Hindes told him that he wasn't sure if Armstrong could have five people living together because that's when the arrangement would be considered "transitional housing."
Transitional housing is defined in the zoning ordinance as "living arrangements for up to five unrelated individuals that do not meet the definitions of 'family' or 'group home.'"
Armstrong said he then pressed Hindes: What if a probation officer called? Would he tell the officer the living arrangement was allowed? Hindes said he would, Armstrong said.
Thomas says Armstrong's Barnabas House does not meet either the "family" or "group home" definitions, so it shouldn't be allowed anywhere in the township except with a special exception approved by the township's zoning hearing board.
Hindes could not immediately be reached for comment this morning.
Zoning appears to be the only way the sex offenders could be forced to leave, at least in their current living arrangement. They've served their prison sentences and are abiding by probation restrictions.
The community became aware of the men's presence because Megan's Law requires some sex offenders to report their current addresses to the state, which then posts the information online.
But for Sarah, a Conestoga resident who didn't want to give her last name, that was little help. She moved into Vonderheide's building with her 2-year-old son in October — before he leased Armstrong space for the faith-based halfway house.
Now Sarah says she's scared to go in and out of the house and use the common laundry area in the building's basement. According to Sarah's mother, Darlene, residents are threatening to force the men out.
"Three people have threatened to burn that place down," she said after the two-plus-hour meeting Monday.
Vonderheide said he is willing to let tenants out of leases without financial penalty.
Thomas said Vonderheide was notified May 16 that transitional housing is not permitted on the property.
But Thomas said if Vonderheide appeals or seeks a special exception for that use within 30 days, the process could be lengthy. And while an appeal is sought, the halfway house may continue operating.
Thomas urged people to attend the next township supervisors meeting, at 7 p.m. June 3, as well as upcoming zoning hearing board meetings.
Armstrong said he personally screened the four occupants of the apartment — one ex-convict is not a sexual offender — and determined them to not be a threat to the community.
Armstrong just wanted to start a faith-based halfway house to help with a community problem.
"Over 2,000 people are sitting in prison and can't be released because there are not enough halfway houses," he said. "I'd like for it to grow. A lot of men are looking for an opportunity to better their lives."
Vonderheide today said he hasn't decided yet if he will appeal the zoning officer's decision or apply for a special exception.
"I support Tom's ministry and as a landowner, I'm appalled at the backwoods zoning trick."
One of the sex offenders living at Barnabas House, Richard Owen, spoke at Monday night's meeting.
"Twenty-seven years ago, I made a poor choice in my life, and I paid dearly," he said.
Owen, who is in his early 50s, said that while in prison, he earned associate and bachelor's degrees, immersed himself in Scriptures and got out "a changed man."
"Unfortunately, that (sex offender) label doesn't change," he said. "I came here today to ask you to judge the man, not the label." ..more.. by Staff writer Ryan Robinson
