While I think it is a good idea to let the world know the harms done by sex offender laws, I totally disagree with the title of the film as it conflicts with the message of the film. So the question is, what are the filmmakers saying? A reader mentioned "irony" but in my opinion calling folks out of their name is not irony nor should it be.
12-1-2008 Florida:
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Palace Mobile Home Park has become a sort of modern-day leper colony. Tucked beside a liquor store off Interstate 275, the trailer park is a haven for sex offenders, with about 100 of its residents on the state's registry.
It is also the subject of a documentary film by a group of Central Florida filmmakers. Titled "Scum of the Earth," the film takes a generally sympathetic approach to its subjects, whose crimes involved children.
One subject molested his daughter, whom he's now not allowed to contact. Another claims she was sexually abused by family members and years later molested a 3-year-old girl she was baby-sitting.
The title, meant as irony, sums up society's view of sex offenders. The film explores how the Palace became a sanctuary for these outcasts.
Clustering of sex offenders is a natural outgrowth of restrictions on where they can live, said Jill Levenson, an assistant professor at Lynn University in Boca Raton who specializes in sex-offender issues. Communities throughout the state have restricted offenders from living too close to schools, day-care centers and bus stops.
"This public policy of fear and revenge is really making the problem worse," said filmmaker Phyllis Redman, who has a background in social work. "Yet it's continuing to be implemented primarily because of public fear."
Her husband, Eric Breitenbach, a fellow filmmaker, acknowledges that many people might find the subject matter tough to watch. When he has brought up his latest project in group settings, "you can hear a pin drop in the room ... You can tell people are immediately worried or turned off or apprehensive about watching or even considering watching a film like that."
Breitenbach and Redman, who live in Deltona, Fla., often focus on those Redman describes as "marginalized." Their critically acclaimed film "When Pigs Fly" chronicled a Flagler County, Fla., woman's battle to save domestic pigs from death. The production team also includes Gary Monroe, a DeLand, Fla., photographer.
When the group started its most recent project, a mental-health counselor at the Palace encouraged his clients to tell their stories on film. It would be cathartic for them, said therapist Don Sweeney, and educational for those who might choose to watch.
By opening up on camera, "I wanted people to see that I'm still a human being," said Robert Smith, who spent time in prison on charges of lewd or lascivious battery on a child. Smith said he molested a 10-year-old girl at his son's party. Smith said he doesn't remember the crime because "I got pretty blitzed" beforehand.
People credit — or blame, depending on their point of view — a woman named Nancy Morais for creating this haven for sex offenders. Morais, whose son is a convicted sex offender, began offering services at the Palace for sex offenders when she was managing the park. The group she founded, called Florida Justice Transitions, has its headquarters there. At the Palace, "I think they feel safe," said Sweeney, who runs group-therapy sessions there. "They don't have to worry about vigilantism, people hating them, putting them down."
Redman said their subjects suffer with shame, guilt and remorse. In the course of filming, one went back to jail for missing by one day a deadline to register as a sex offender. One attempted suicide. Another faces eviction from the park.
"All of these guys are really hanging in the balance," Redman said. "The tougher society makes it on them, the more likely they will not be successful, whatever that means: re-offend, return to addictions or commit suicide or become homeless."
The Palace has its share of problems, although law enforcement officials say it's rare for park residents to get rearrested for sex crimes. Sweeney said drugs and prostitutes are prevalent. Earlier this year, a transient visiting friends at the park murdered a pregnant woman whose fiance lived there, according to news reports. And there is occasionally tension between the sex-offender residents and their neighbors.
"It's hell here," said one woman who had complained to management that an offender in the park had harassed her.
Residents pay several hundred dollars a month to live — often with roommates — in tiny mobile homes packed tightly along narrow streets. Many of them are well-kept, landscaped and decorated with items such as pink flamingos. An American flag hangs in front of one home.
Harold Cooney's home has a ramp for his wife's electric scooter. The living room is decorated with angel figurines and filled with wooden and glass furniture that seems out of place in its cramped surroundings. A small sign over the door reminds him not to forget to wear his electronic monitoring device when he leaves the house.
Now 76 and battling leukemia, he served prison time in 2006 after police caught him masturbating on a Web camera, thinking a 14-year-old girl was watching him on the Internet. It was actually a law enforcement officer.
Cooney and his wife, Ruth, consider themselves parental figures to many of the men. She said her husband's arrest turned out to be a blessing in disguise because they have been able to help so many men at the park.
"If it wasn't for this place," she said, "I don't know where these people would go." ..News Source.. by Greenville Online.com
December 1, 2008
FL- Filmmakers examine marginalized' lives of sex offenders
November 29, 2008
FL- Spotlight: clustered lives of sex offenders
11-29-2008 Florida:
ST. PETERSBURG - The Palace Mobile Home Park has become a sort of modern-day leper colony. Tucked beside a liquor store off Interstate 275, the trailer park is a haven for sex offenders, with about 100 of its residents on the state's registry.
It is also the subject of a documentary film by a group of Central Florida filmakers. Titled Scum of the Earth, the film takes a generally sympathetic approach to its subjects, whose crimes involved children.
One subject molested his daughter, whom he's now not allowed to contact. Another claims she was sexually abused by family members and years later molested a 3-year-old girl she was baby-sitting.
The title, meant as irony, sums up society's view of sex offenders. The film explores how the Palace became a sanctuary for these outcasts.
Clustering of sex offenders is a natural outgrowth of restrictions on where they can live, said Jill Levenson, an assistant professor at Lynn University in Boca Raton who specializes in sex-offender issues. Communities throughout the state have restricted offenders from living too close to schools, day-care centers and bus stops.
"This public policy of fear and revenge is really making the problem worse," said filmmaker Phyllis Redman, who has a background in social work. "Yet it's continuing to be implemented primarily because of public fear."
Her husband Eric Breitenbach, a fellow filmmaker, acknowledges that many people might find the subject matter tough to watch. When he has brought up his latest project in group settings, "you can hear a pin drop in the room . . . You can tell people are immediately worried or turned off or apprehensive about watching or even considering watching a film like that."
'Marginalized' lives
Breitenbach and Redman, who live in Deltona, often focus on those Redman describes as "marginalized." Their critically acclaimed film When Pigs Fly chronicled a Flagler County woman's battle to save domestic pigs from death. The production team also includes Gary Monroe, a DeLand photographer.
When the group started its most recent project, a mental-health counselor at the Palace encouraged his clients to tell their stories on film. It would be cathartic for them, said therapist Don Sweeney, and educational for those who might choose to watch.
By opening up on camera, "I wanted people to see that I'm still a human being," said Robert Smith, who spent time in prison on charges of lewd or lascivious battery on a child. Smith said he molested a 10-year-old girl at his son's party. Smith said he doesn't remember the crime because "I got pretty blitzed" beforehand.
People credit -- or blame, depending on their point of view -- a woman named Nancy Morais for creating this haven for sex offenders. Morais, whose son is a convicted sex offender, began offering services at the Palace for sex offenders when she was managing the park. The group she founded, called Florida Justice Transitions, has its headquarters there. At the Palace, "I think they feel safe," said Sweeney, who runs group-therapy sessions there. "They don't have to worry about vigilantism, people hating them, putting them down."
Redman said their subjects suffer with shame, guilt and remorse. In the course of filming, one went back to jail for missing by one day a deadline to register as a sex offender. One attempted suicide. Another faces eviction from the park.
"All of these guys are really hanging in the balance," Redman said. "The tougher society makes it on them, the more likely they will not be successful, whatever that means: re-offend, return to addictions or commit suicide or become homeless."
2nd arrests rare there
The Palace has its share of problems, although law-enforcement officials say it's rare for park residents to get rearrested for sex crimes. Sweeney said drugs and prostitutes are prevalent. Earlier this year, a transient visiting friends at the park murdered a pregnant woman whose fianc� lived there, according to news reports. And there is occasionally tension between the sex-offender residents and their neighbors.
"It's hell here," said one woman who had complained to management that an offender in the park had harassed her.
Residents pay several hundred dollars a month to live -- often with roommates -- in tiny mobile homes packed tightly along narrow streets. Many of them are well-kept, landscaped and decorated with items such as pink flamingos. An American flag hangs in front of one home.
Harold Cooney's home has a ramp for his wife's electric scooter. The living room is decorated with angel figurines and filled with wooden and glass furniture that seems out of place in its cramped surroundings. A small sign over the door reminds him not to forget to wear his electronic monitoring device when he leaves the house.
Now 76 and battling leukemia, he served prison time in 2006 after police caught him masturbating on a Web camera, thinking a 14-year-old girl was watching him on the Internet. It was actually a law-enforcement officer.
Cooney and his wife, Ruth, consider themselves parental figures to many of the men. She said her husband's arrest turned out to be a blessing in disguise because they have been able to help so many men at the park."If it wasn't for this place," she said, "I don't know where these people would go." ..News Source.. by Sandra Pedicini | Sentinel Staff Writer
November 11, 2008
FL- Florida Justice Transitions (A sex offender program needs help)
11-11-2008 Florida:
FLORIDA JUSTICE TRANSITIONS, Inc
Dear Friends:
Below is a Wish List of needs that our organization is in dire need of at this time. Each year we ask help from you to assist us in any way you can possibly help.
Some of you who can not help personally, have been great about getting us help fin the past from resources you may know of that will assist.
We understand that hard times are here for all, and wish each and everyone of you good health and fortune in 2009.
Please help us make a difference for those less fortunate than ourselves.
REMEMBER, all donations are tax deductible under our 501 c 3, and any monetary donations will receive a tax deductible certificate for your tax records.
Thank You so very much,
Sincerely Yours,
Nancy Morais, FJTC
11-10-2008
As you may well know, this time of the year is very difficult for our program. On top of being in a recession, many men and women coming out into our care are facing the cold months and Holidays which prove so depressing for most of our clients. Our prayer is that we can meet some of their needs in some small way.
Any of these would be greatly appreciated.
Blankets- (Twin-New or Good used ok) We are still short 32.. Please!
TV’s and Radio’s
Kitchen Appliances
Room Heaters
Toothbrushes
Tooth Paste, Mouthwash
Deodorant
Shampoo, Conditioner
Shaving Cream, Disposable Razors
Toilet paper
Shower gel, Bar soap
Socks - Ankle, Crew
T-Shirts-S, M, L, XL, XXL
Briefs-S, M, L, XL, XXL
Boxers- S,M,L,XL,XXL
Belts- S, M, L, XL, XXL (Good used ok)
Shirts-S, M, L, XL, XXL (Good used ok)
Pants-all sizes (Good used ok)
Kitchen Towels
Bath Towels-(Good used ok)
Face Cloths- (Good used ok)
Twin Sheet Sets- (Good used ok)
Pillow Cases- (Good used ok)
Food-non perishables: Can goods, pasta, rice, etc…
(Gift Certificates) Winn Dixie, Publix, Sweet Bay, Wal-Mart for perishable items such as eggs, milk, cheese, butter, and milk….
Food Gift Card- (.i.e. - Burger King, Wendy's, Arby’s etc..)
Please call our office if you have any questions or needs:
727- 289-7020
June 11, 2008
OH- Student’s multimedia project takes
6-11-2008 Ohio:
When Ohio University graduate student Kim Walker decided to spend a month at The Palace, her camera lens did not capture any royal pampering. Sex offenders generally don’t get that kind of treatment.
The St. Petersburg, Fla., trailer park is home to about 100 residents, all convicted sex offenders, and all legally required to attend therapy classes. Walker sat in on some of those sessions, researching her graduate project. The end result gave the residents a voice.
Saturday night in OU’s Baker Center, Walker presented a 20-minute multimedia presentation of her time at The Palace, including photos, video and interviews. Interviewees included two professionals helping to rehabilitate Palace residents, and four men who volunteered to tell their stories of crime and punishment.
FLORIDA’S STRICT LAWS for convicted sex offenders make it difficult for them to find a place to live after being released from prison. A state law bars convicted sex offenders from any residence within 1,000 feet of a school, bus stop, church, park or any other child’s gathering place.
Walker said some of Florida’s cities have even tougher laws for sex offenders, such as Miami where sex offenders live under a bridge — though homelessness is technically illegal there.
Her inspiration for the Palace trip came from a CNN story on the Miami story. The story of the criminal does not always get told, Walker said.
Walker started her film with a man arrested after exposing his genitals through a Web camera to someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl. It turned out instead to be a police officer.
While he tells his story, Walker mixes in pictures of a man playing with his children and trying to be as much of a father as he legally can. He cannot work because of the legal restrictions, and spends his days traveling to his wife’s house to spend time with his two children.
That first man interviewed accepts responsibility for his crime, though he says he was drunker than he should have been when the crime was committed. But the other interviewees might raise credibility issues with some viewers.
“I really just tried to keep an open mind,” said Walker, who will finish her master’s degree in visual communications when she turns in her project. “I don’t know if they’re lying.”
WALKER SAID HER goal was neutrality, but was aiming more to produce a portrait than journalism. She said she wanted to let the men tell their stories, and did no background research on their stories to establish their guilt or innocence.
She stayed with the trailer park director, Nancy Morais, a sexual assault victim and the mother of a son who was convicted of a sex offense. Morais said in the film that she believes sex offenders can be better rehabilitated and become more functional in society.
Walker said she wants to put the film on a unique Web site, but does not know when that will happen, as she is starting an internship this summer. She has some other projects posted on her Web site kimwalkerphoto.com. ..News Source.. by Corey Ryan, Athens NEWS Campus Reporter
March 8, 2008
FL- Suspect sought in stabbing death at Lealman mobile home park
3-8-2008 Florida:
LEALMAN -- A petty argument turned deadly Friday for a pregnant mother of two, who was fatally stabbed at a mobile home park for sex offenders.
Pinellas County Sheriff's deputies are searching for Christopher Robertson, 41, who they said stabbed Anna Marie Kasvicis, 22, about 12:40 p.m.
Robert Piccolo, 20, said his fiancee was dropping off groceries at his lot at the Palace Mobile Home Park on her way to a job interview. He said she commented to Robertson, who had been staying there since he got out of jail, that he wasn't to touch the food.
Piccolo said that triggered a back-and-forth that ended when Robertson, 41, grabbed a butcher knife from the kitchen and stabbed her in the chest. Piccolo witnessed the altercation.
"I wish he would have stabbed me," said Piccolo, who said he met Robertson in jail and was doing him a favor by taking him in. "She was a wonderful person."
Piccolo said Kasvicis was two months pregnant with his baby and leaves behind a girl and a boy, ages 7 and 4.
Robertson is described as a white man with short salt-and-pepper hair, about 6 feet tall and 170 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black shirt and blue jeans.
Neighbor Maribel Guzman, 44, said she saw Robertson running out of the park as she was on her way back from the store.
"She was a baby, a gorgeous young lady," said Guzman, who said she's known the victim for five years. "She didn't deserve this."
Kasvicis was taken by ambulance to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, where she was pronounced dead, said Cecilia Barreda, spokeswoman for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
The Palace Mobile Home Park houses nearly 100 sex offenders. They have found it a haven after manager Nancy Morais persuaded the owner to start admitting them a few years ago. The move was inspired by her son, himself a sex offender, who struggled to find a place to live.
Robertson has faced charges of aggravated battery and kidnapping and was released from the Pinellas County Jail last month, after which he started staying at the park.
Tucked in the southwest corner of 54th Avenue N and Interstate 275, the park was quiet Friday afternoon as deputies with cameras guarded three rows of mobile homes wrapped in caution tape.
But he is not a sex offender, and Palace manager Morais said the residents of lot 274, where the stabbing occurred, are not part of the sex offender program either. Neighbor Richard Reckert, 59, said Robertson had been hanging around the park lately, sometimes walking the dog of the residents at lot 274.
Morais said she has more trouble with the private owners in her park than with the sex offenders. Because offenders are on probation, they're easier to refer to police when they cause problems, she said.
He lamented the way the killing would appear to the public.
"This place is going to get buried," he said. "It's going to get blown up like some sex offender did it."
Morais spoke to reporters before driving to Hillsborough County, where she's involved with a similarly controversial park. Her nonprofit organization, Florida Justice Transitions, runs a Palm River mobile home park housing a small group of sex offenders.
On Friday, county officials determined they could not remove the offenders based on a county ordinance.
"I'm very proud of what the guys have done here, and I don't want this to come up against them," Morais said.
Times researcher Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report. Stephanie Garry can be reached at sgarry@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2374. ..more.. by Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer
March 7, 2008
FL- Sex Predators Won't Be Booted From Palm River Park
3-7-2008 Florida:
Sexual predators will not be evicted from a Palm River mobile home park, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
"We have not received any complaints," spokeswoman Debbie Carter said. "We see no violations at this point. We have consulted and reviewed the ordinance with the state attorney's office."
According to the ordinance, Carter said, "They are within their legal rights of residing within their homes."
"We started getting phone calls, hearing that we were going to be arresting individuals at midnight," she said. "That is totally new to us."
The county attorney's office began investigating the situation after Palm River residents spoke during the public comment session at Thursday's commission meeting, protesting Florida Justice Transitions' plan to house sex offenders in Juli's Mobile Home Park.
At least eight sexual predators and two sexual offenders already live in the mobile homes, and the founder of the nonprofit group has announced plans to house up to 24 at the park, which sits across the street from families living at J&L Mobile Home Park.
The plans have enraged residents at J&L, including Michelle Williams.
Born and raised in the Palm River area, Williams extended an emotional plea to commissioners requesting they take action. She said she was sexually assaulted in 1984, and her attacker went on to victimize 17 more children.
"I'm a survivor. You never get over it. Make them go somewhere where there aren't any children. Yes, they've served their term, but what they've done to us is a lifetime thing," she said. "I can't allow this in my community, not now, not ever."
Faith-based Florida Justice Transitions operates a transitional program for sex offenders at a mobile home park in St. Petersburg, where offenders receive counseling and close monitoring by the sheriff's office and probation officers, according to founder Nancy Morais.
Veronica Moore, president of the Palm River Civic Association, who spoke to commissioners with her 18-month-old foster daughter, Dixie Lee, in her arms, said she doesn't think any amount of monitoring will keep children in the community safe.
Moore is organizing a community protest march at 1 p.m. March 15 that will begin at 78th Street and proceed along Causeway Boulevard to Palm River Road. The Palm River Civic Association will discuss the march at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the First Baptist Church of Palm River, 5415 Palm River Road.
Tony Spino, who has daughters ages 4 and 2, built a $400,000 home about a mile from the mobile home park and said he's worried not only about the safety of children but also declining property values. Spino has launched a petition drive to close the transitional program, so far gathering about 200 signatures.
County code enforcement supervisor Bill Langford said Thursday, and property records confirmed, the property the mobile home park is located on, at 5011 24th Ave. S., is owned by Rooring Lake Gilbert LLC.
After hearing residents speak Thursday morning, Commissioner Jim Norman asked the county attorney to immediately file an injunction to stop Florida Justice Transition's plans.
"The last thing we need to do is bring another predator into this community," he said. "We need to jump on this right away."
Commissioner Kevin White was especially disturbed to learn one of the sex offenders living at the Palm River mobile home park had been released after raping and carving his initials into the chest of a 15-year-old girlfriend.
"It sounds like our judicial system is failing," he said. "This needs to be a collaborative effort with all government agencies involved."
By late Thursday afternoon, the county attorney's office announced the county could legally force the eight sexual predators to move because of the 300-foot rule. The rule covers only sexual predators, who are categorized as having committed more serious crimes than sexual offenders. ..more.. by A Tribune staff report
February 29, 2008
FL- A pedophile's paradise? Parents protest a mobile home park.
2-28-2008 Florida:
Palm River, Florida – Parents call it a pedophile’s paradise.
And, it makes them sick.
A mobile home park in the Palm River area is becoming a haven for sex offenders. They use the park as a rehab of sorts. Currently, 8 offenders live there and more could be on the way. Families across the street have had enough.
“They walk the street all the time. Every day I see them, and there isn’t anything I can do about it. I’ve just got to leave it alone,” said Carla Bowling.
Carla’s opinion is suddenly changing.
She felt empowered after a meeting at First Baptist Church Thursday night where fellow parents spoke up, wanting sex offenders out.
“If they want to go out in the country and do something like this, where it’s not around children, I wouldn’t have much of a problem. If they want to go into a community, an all-adult community, I don’t like that either, but they have to go somewhere. But, don’t put them in the middle of a candy jar,” pleaded Judy Cornett, a mother who knows firsthand the pain a sex offender can cause.
Her son was molested when he was just a boy. And, he wasn’t the only one. Other children were also hurt. Since then, Judy has been on such shows as Oprah and Leeza Gibbons. She was at the meeting to educate parents on how to shut down this mobile home park.
The park is called the “Florida Justice Transition” program located at 5015 24th Avenue South. The manager, Patty Morais, works with offenders every day on their probation and watches them constantly.
She says, “We’re watching these guys. The probation officers are watching these guys. They’re going through their counseling. They’re doing everything they’re supposed to be doing.”
But, is what they’re doing legal? Should sex offenders have their own mobile home park?
Hillsborough County code enforcement says it may not be legal. They are investigating the case right now. They have not issued any citations, but they have started an active case. Case officers are going after the park for improper use of zoning.
So, who owns this park? Tampa Bay’s 10 News did some digging and found out that the park’s owner is traced back to Rooring Lake Gilbert, LLC. The owners did not return our phone calls.
Meanwhile, this predator colony, as some parents call it, is making money with rental charges. And, there’s 3 to 4 tenants per mobile home in some cases.
Carla Bowling worries every day about her 11-year-old daughter, Makayla, daughter who plays across the street. She calls the mere presence of these men near children, disgusting.
“I’m petrified. I’m scared, I’m really scared. It makes me mad. I don’t know how they can do it.”
Even her daughter says, “Sometimes they look at me. I’m worried about what to do if they come after me.”
A facility like this one already exists in St. Petersburg called the Palace Mobile Home Park. If parents in Palm River can help it, this new park in Tampa, only a month old, will be shut down as soon as possible. ..more.. by Melanie Brooks, Tampa Bay's 10 News
October 20, 2007
Trailer park becomes 'paradise' for sex offenders
10-18-2007 Florida:
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (CNN) -- It's a community that seems serene, with just a wind chime breaking the silence. But look again and you will see many residents wearing ankle monitor systems that alert authorities if they wander too far away.
The Palace Mobile Home Park is a place that welcomes sex offenders. Ninety-five of these 200 residents are convicted sex offenders, including some pedophiles.
The adults-only, nondescript, low-income trailer park near St. Petersburg, Florida has gained a reputation among sex offenders on probation as a good place to live and stay out of trouble.
"Out there ... it's a jungle," said Michael, who did not want his last name used for this report. "In here, it's our own little piece of paradise. We're safe here."
Michael was released from prison in June. He's been a familiar face to law enforcement in Florida and Mississippi for the past 20 years, serving prison time for grand theft, drug possession and sexual battery on a child.
"I pray a lot that my victim has been given the opportunity to grow beyond the horrendous problem that I caused for them," he said.
In many ways, the Palace provides him a second chance at life. New laws across the country have limited where sex offenders and predators can live, banning them from places where children might congregate. This trailer park is far enough away from schools, churches, playgrounds and bus stops, allowing Michael to call it home without running afoul of the law.
"As a sex offender -- when you come out, you're told you can't do this; you can't be around children; you can't go to parks; you can't go to the beach; you can't go to the library," he said.
Nearly 600 sex offenders have lived here in the past couple of years, according to manager Nancy Morais, who said she was sexually assaulted by a family member as a little girl.
Not only does she allow the sex offenders to live here, she also offers therapy to help them become part of society again. "Put him on the right track, and we have a better chance of seeing society be a little bit safer with this person," she said. "Can I guarantee they're all gonna be good? Of course not."
Some experts agree that it is hope as much as fear that keeps offenders from relapsing.
"You have to offer people hope if you expect them to change," said psychologist Don Sweeney, who works with the residents here. "If society only wants to tear them down and doesn't show them any way back, then all help is lost in their minds, and they are more likely to relapse."
Morais is allowed by the trailer park's owner to house the offenders. The owner, The R2 Property Company, would not talk to CNN for this story.
Morais said she carefully screens all her potential "guests," even with their unsavory pasts.
"If they come into our program, I would look them close in the eye and will tell them very clearly: 'You want to do good? I will do whatever I can to help you do good,'" she said.
"'You mess up, I'm not gonna cry when you are handcuffed and they are taking you away.'"
Morais charges each offender $400 per month, which includes all utilities. Most have roommates, with up to three or four per trailer. But not everyone who lives here feels safe knowing they are surrounded by convicted sex offenders.
One resident, who asked not to be identified, railed against the trailer park's management for not informing them from the outset about this rehabilitation program.
"They told us nothing. My place is worth nothing now," the resident said, speaking in a whisper. Another woman said she had no problem living among the offenders, but she said it comes with consequences: She won't allow her grandchildren on the premises.
Others don't seem to mind. Teresa Atkins moved into the Palace a year ago. She is not an offender and didn't know, at the time, that almost half of her neighbors were. "I'm very safe here. None of these men want to go back to jail. They will do anything to keep from going to jail," she said.
Because of the number of sex offenders, there is a constant police presence in the park.
"We make sure that they know we are going to be an influence in here," said Sgt. Judy Vovan, who supervises the Sexual Predator and Offender Tracking unit for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
"They're gonna see us in here very, very frequently, and we're gonna make sure they are abiding by the registration requirements."
On this particular day, Vovan and deputy Tammy Nixon are going door to door at the Palace. They ensure that all offenders are properly registered. The deputies said more offenders are coming to the park from all over Florida.
"There are people living in this park that have no ties to Pinellas County. We are very much aware of that," said Vovan.
Across the trailer park, Bill Sylvis, the maintenance supervisor, is sanding down a two-by-four. Morais hired him to do repairs at the aging, rundown facility, when he was released from prison in January for sexual assault of a child under 16.
"I was gonna do whatever it took, get my own little cabinet shop, furniture shop going," he said, speaking through a microphone he holds up to his throat. Cancer took away his ability to speak.
But no one would hire him, he said. "We're the bottom of the barrel. They don't want us around. They feel insecure, whatever, unsafe you know."
So far, only one offender who has lived here has re-offended, according to authorities. That man tried to set up a photo shoot with a child on the property.
One of his neighbors, a fellow sexual offender, turned him in. ..more.. by Rich Phillips, CNN
OFFENDERS' HOME TRIES TO BRIDGE NEEDS
10-10-2007 Florida:
A Pinellas mobile home park addresses a sex offender housing dilemma and aids oversight.
At first glance, the Palace Mobile Home Park looks like just another trailer park, offering cheap rent to Floridians with downsized retirement dreams.
The small sign out front is faded. The streets in the cramped community of single-wides are narrow. This was supposed to be the new home of Bobby Joe Helms, the man known as the "Hyde Park rapist."
But the folks who run the park wouldn't have him. Too high-profile, too much attention.
In the past two years, the Palace has quietly become the neighborhood of choice for sex offenders in Pinellas, housing almost 8 percent of all the sex offenders and predators in the county.
About 98 sex offenders - about half of the roughly 200 residents - live in the Palace. No other area in the county has such a high concentration of sex offenders, sheriff's officials say.
"I feel safe here," said Michael Yancey, 41, a registered sex offender who has been at the Palace since June. "I don't feel the weight of the community on my shoulders, the stares. When I walk out of here, it's a whole other ball game."
Palace manager Nancy Morais said she had incomplete information on Helms' past and didn't know the extent of his crimes. Morais is sensitive to public concern. She tries to keep a low profile and says it's good to have offenders live in one place where they're easy to monitor.
"We watch them very, very carefully," she said. "I just don't feel that the community is safe if sex offenders go unattended under a bridge." In many ways, the Palace has become what it is because of Morais, who also runs the nonprofit Florida Justice Alliance, which helps incarcerated criminals transition back into society.
Morais, 59, has a son who is one of Pinellas' 1,260 registered sex offenders. Marc Morais, 38, was convicted of charges including being a principal in an attempted sexual battery of a child under 12, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. He lives at the Palace, and so does his mother.
Morais said she was troubled after learning how difficult it was for offenders to find even basic housing. State law does not restrict where offenders can live, but courts often include restrictions as part of probation.
When Morais came across the Palace several years ago, she soon realized it was in an ideal location for offenders. "It's in the middle of nowhere," she said. "We're surrounded by basically nothing."
The Palace is in an unincorporated area called Lealman, one of the poorest areas of Pinellas County. At one time, the area near the Palace was frequented by homeless people.
The small mobile home park consists of a few streets and 80 units at 2500 54th Ave. N. Some of the homes look new; others dowdy. A Winnie the Pooh decoration adorns one home. On Tuesday, several offenders walked around the park doing odd jobs.
Morais said she convinced the park's owners to admit sex offenders several years ago. She said they agreed, as long as no designated sexual predators were allowed.
As word spread about the Palace, more offenders kept moving in. The number shot up from about 55 in 2005 to the high 90s this year, said Sgt. Judy Vovan, who oversees the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office sexual predator and offender tracking unit.
"It's a very high number," Vovan said. "We keep a very close eye on the offenders who reside in that park."
While the Palace is in a high-crime area, Vovan said most of the arrests have been for minor offenses such as disorderly intoxication or violating probation. The offenders also watch each other and report possible crimes, she said. But "we haven't seen a lot of incidents of them committing sex offenses," she said.
The Palace is owned by the R2 Property Co. R2 officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
For residents, the Palace offers cheap rent and access to counseling services. Morais said she doesn't receive any taxpayer dollars and pays for her operations through the $400 monthly rent she charges each offender. Several live in each unit.
Donald Sweeney, a licensed mental health counselor who works with Palace residents in group sessions, said most of the offenders use the Palace as a way station, staying there for a few months after they're released from prison.
He said some work in the Palace, renovating mobile homes and making other repairs. "It was a pretty rough place before the offenders moved in," he said. "They've cleaned it up considerably."
Some people in the Palace and the neighborhood have just started to become aware of the influx of sex offenders.
At Lealman Intermediate School, which is just 0.4 miles from the Palace, school officials have put up mug shots and shifted bus routes so students don't have to walk through the neighborhood.
Frances Bailes has lived in the park for about five years. The presence of so many sex offenders has left some residents afraid to go outside, she said.
"I have people telling me that they are scared, that they are going to move as quick as they can," Bailes said.
She said she hasn't had any problems with her neighbors, except that her grandchildren can't visit her in the park.
"If I can find a place, I'm moving," Bailes said. ..more.. by Staff writers Jacob H. Fries, Anne Lindberg and researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Abhi Raghunathan can be reached at araghunathan@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8472.
