South Carolina Sex Offender Law Offers No Protection At School Bus Stops

Sex offender laws are not supposed to protect anyone at bus stops, and there is a reason for that, no registered sex offender has ever abducted or committed a sex crime at a school bus stop, which was in front of or close to his/her home. Fear mongers have posed the idea, but the reality is, this is not how offenders commit crimes.

Has a child ever been abducted from a school bus stop, likely yes (Phillip Garrido did exactly that) but he lived miles away in the next state. Moving bus stops or preventing offenders from living near them will not prevent what the fear mongers have said. Parents need to take and pickup their children from bus stops, its that simple, it is not up to the state to pass a law to protect children at bus stops, its a parent's job.

10-25-2010 South Carolina:

AIKEN COUNTY, S.C. -- South Carolina passed its sex offender residency law two years ago. Under the law, offenders can not live within 1,000 feet of schools, day cares and parks.

But, those residency restrictions do not include school bus stops.

Dawn Bieber stands at her son's bus stop to make sure he gets home safely from Hammond Hills Elementary in North Augusta.

"Every morning and every afternoon to get them off the bus...even though it's right down the street from the house," Bieber said.

While Bieber keeps a close eye on her son, South Carolina's sex offender law DOES NOT prevent sex offenders from living near school bus stops.

"We come out it's still dark. It's 6:20 in the morning. So, you don't know who is outside," Bieber said. "As parents we try to make sure we stay together and make sure one mom is as least outside."

Sgt. Chris Funk with the Aiken County Sheriff's Office says the sex offender law puts the responsibility on school districts.

"Take turns watching the bus stop, make a rotation, share the responsibilities as a parent watching all the students at the bus stop---walking to and from the bus stop," Funk said.

South Carolina Law Enforcement is currently working on a statewide mapping system to help you find where sex offenders are living from county-to-county.

Offender Watch is already available online in Aiken County on the sheriff's office website.

Under Georgia law, bus stops ARE included in residency restrictions for sex offenders, can not be enforced.

The state recently approved other changes to that law.

Georgia offenders cannot live within one-thousand feet of places where children gather if the incident happened on or after July 1, 2008 or based on the severity of the offense. ..Source.. Sheena Bodie

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Bus-stop rule is lifted

10-13-2010 Georgia:

Columbia County school officials on Tuesday rescinded a 4-year-old resolution in which they set the location of bus stops, unwittingly testing a state law cracking down on sex offenders.

Officials hope the revocation will prompt a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit against Columbia County Sheriff Clay Whittle.

U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper ruled July 25, 2006 that bus stops must be officially designated by local school boards for a state law banning registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop to apply.

About four hours after his ruling, the Columbia County board, at the urging of then-District Attorney Danny Craig, unanimously passed a resolution designating the county's roughly 5,000 school bus stops. The boards of Chatham and Bulloch counties soon followed the lead.

That week, attorneys for the Southern Center for Human Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union persuaded Cooper to grant a temporary restraining order blocking police from enforcing the bus stop law.

Later, the center took up the cause of registered sex offender and one-time Harlem resident ___, who would have had to move.

"Because Columbia County was the first school board to designate stops, Sheriff Whittle was added as a defendant to (a lawsuit spearheaded by Whitaker and the center) and a representative of a class of sheriff defendants throughout the state," said Augusta attorney David Hudson, who represents Whittle and The Augusta Chronicle .

After the initial resolution was passed, some school officials said they felt duped by Craig, now a Superior Court judge, into designating the bus stops. Craig admitted that he wanted the school board to designate bus stops in order to force the court to find flaws in the law.

Now, officials seemingly just want the issue to end.

"In the years since Columbia County designated its school bus stops, there is little doubt that those designations are now obsolete," Hudson said in an e-mail. "Bus routes change; students are added or dropped; new schools are opened and new routes are created."

Hudson said he has contacted school officials in Chatham and Bulloch counties about dropping their bus stop designations but has not yet received a reply.

If those counties agree to revoke those designations, Hudson said, it "would give grounds for the federal court in Atlanta to dismiss those portions of the Whitaker claim as well."

School board member Mike Sleeper said that he spoke with Whittle and Craig before Tuesday's meeting and that both agreed that dropping the designations was in the best interest of the school system.

Superintendent Charles Nagle said he wanted to revoke the resolution to protect the board from its own potential lawsuit. ..Source.. Donnie Fetter

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"America's Most Wanted" Host John Walsh gives inspirational speech in Reno (CMentioning new type of crime "Bus Surfing")

It appears the old cliches are not working and the public is getting wise to folks like John Walsh, so he comes up with something new: "Bus Surfing" allegedly committed by ALL pedophiles, where they follow school buses to attack children. I wish I had such a creative mind; in reality stalking would be the crime, but Walsh wants a buzz-word to back NEW legislation! (See also Walsh's Interview on CNN in 2007 at end of post) Here is a video of real "bus surfing" (riding on top of a bus, yes dangerous and stupid):

7-27-2010 Nevada:

News 4 - Andrew Del Greco At the Grand Sierra Resort Monday night, the topic of keeping children safe from sexual predators took center stage. It was part of the School Transportation News' national expo. The special guest was "America's Most Wanted" host, and child safety advocate, John Walsh.

Walsh asked the question, how can the United States have put a man on the moon so many years ago, but still have problems tracking what he says are 100,000 convicted sex offenders who fail to register with police? So there's a lot of work ahead, but meantime, he's getting his messages out to everybody, especially to groups of people like the one he spoke to at GSR.

John Walsh says he's still angry. He and his family waited 27 years before the man who abducted and murdered his son Adam was identified.

"I know the pain of waiting for 27 years, there are tens of thousands of unsolved cold cases, we can catch these guys; they're driving around in your community," said Walsh.

But Walsh has turned much of his pain into passion. And it is both his pain and passion which struck nerves inside the Grand Sierra Resort ballroom.

If you looked closely, you could find people wiping away tears.

"Very touching, very frustrating, I can only imagine," said Robin Norton, who works in a Lowden County, Virginia school district.

Many in this audience are bus drivers. They're the first and last people to see your children each school day, besides you. And Walsh truly believes they are vital toward protecting your children's safety.

"I believe in being proactive... be proactive, saddle up and say we know these things can happen," Walsh said.

"We're a family," said Bonneville County, Idaho School District 93 employee Todd Hicks. "We monitor society and monitor the students we transport."

"We are the front lines, somebody has to be out there and it's us," said Norton.

The front lines against a disturbing reality. John Walsh calls it "bus surfing" -- pedophiles who follow buses and prey on children at bus stops.

The bus drivers here say they're aware this goes on. And they say John's presence here serves as inspiration to constantly be on the watch and report any suspicions.

They know their neighborhood routes well, so they say they look out for cars who linger behind buses or people who seem out of place. And they say they're not afraid to report suspicious activity to the police. ..Source.. by My News 4.com

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Larry King interview 1-15-2007:

KING: For more information on missing children and what you can do in the effort to help find them, just log on to cnn.com/larryking.

And we also want to remind you that John Walsh is the co-founder of the Safe Side, the products to help teach kids how to make smart decisions in dangerous situations. I have them at home; they're terrific. Products include the DVD "The Safe Side: Internet Safety." You voiced some concern about so-called bus surfing by pedophiles. What is that?

WALSH: Well, I think this is a phenomenon that parents have to sit down with their kids and talk about, and parents have to be more vigilant. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Justice Department are now talking about this phenomenon, where pedophiles surf -- drive behind buses, looking for that special kid. Maybe it's a little girl, maybe in the case of accused kidnapper, this Devlin guy, that it's a pubescent boy or a young boy, and they wait for that kid, the bus to drop them off, and they wait for that kid to make that rural walk home. Lots of pedophiles think that rural areas, that people are unsophisticated, that cops are not readily available, which is true.

And I say to parents -- I know that people work, and you may be not be able to pick your kid up from the bus stop, but you've got to talk to it about children. Maybe kids walk home together. But this bus surfing is a way that these predators are getting these kids, and I think that's exactly what happened in Ben's case. He got off that bus. I think the accused kidnapper, Devlin, was surfing, driving behind that bus. He waited until the bus drove away, and he grabbed Ben.

KING: How do you prevent that?

WALSH: You talk to your kids. You talk to the bus drivers. You talk to other parents, say maybe I'm working, maybe you can pick my kid up. But please, I really believe we have to take a proactive stance. Some kids don't even have a chance, but some kids really -- we've seen 100,000 kids in the last four or five years because of proactive parents talking to them, avoid or get away from abductors. That's the good news. But knowledge is power, I always say that.

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Andersen Cooper 1-12-2007:

WALSH Speaking: So, it's very, very rare that two boys are found alive that were both stranger-abducted. This guy obviously is a bus surfer. I don't know if you have ever heard this term, but this is what these pedophiles do. They go behind buses in rural areas, look for the child of their preference. For some guys, it's little girls. For some guys, it's little boys.

They know that the danger zone is walking from the bus stop home. And that's where they get these kids. This is -- obviously was a bus surfer. He did it twice. Thank God these boys are found -- were found alive.

And thanks to that kid on that bus, that 16-year-old boy that came forward and gave the description of that pickup truck. That's what broke this case wide open. I have always believed the public has a huge role. And that teenaged boy on that bus is the one who gave cops this good information.

ROBERTS: John, on that point of bus surfing, let's take a quick look at the geography here.

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FL- Bus stop protestors reach agreement

This takes the cake, the original issue was the school bus stop which is outside the park on the main road. Now, the resolution is, to install 9 cameras inside the park to monitor sex offenders, but which ones? In addition, the bus stop may have kids for a few minutes of the day, say twice a day, but they intend to monitor the sex offenders 24/7. Why? Is that a violation of any law or rights of the registrants? If parents would take their children to the bus stop there would not be any problem and $18,000 plus maintenance costs would be saved.

11-10-2009 Florida:

by Tracy Jacim

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - After spending many nights sleeping on the side of Orange Blossom Trail in protest and after trying to get a daycare established so that high-level sex offenders living nearby would have to move, a contract between abuse survivor Barbara Farris and the HOA at the Lakeshore Village Trailer Park was forged on Monday.

Some eighty sex offenders of all types live in the community near a school bus stop. They, with the permission of the park's owner, have agreed to install internet accessible surveillance cameras throughout the park and at the bus stop.

Farris shook hands with not one, but two sex offenders who live in the Lakeshore Village Trailer Park.

"We are all happy with the outcome," said Farris, who will no longer threaten to put a daycare up to chase the high level offenders out.

Instead, Farris and her watchdog group Bee Aware, will install nine surveillance cameras. Only Farris and a select few will have the access code to access them any time online.

Farris explains, "If they're going to do something wrong, offenders will change patterns, and now we'll be able to see them on tape. We'll be recording 24 hours."

"We've been fighting for the wrong reasons. We're really out for same resolution," said the president of the park's HOA. He is also a registered sex offender.

He says he also wants a safe community. He also wants surveillance cameras to keep a close eye on the higher level repeat offenders.

"A consensus vote was taken by the park and we came up with a high 70 percent vote for the surveillance cameras proposed by Ms. Farris. If you're not doing something wrong, what have you got to worry about?"

They hope to have nine cameras installed within the month. Each one will cost about $2,000, and Farris is footing the entire bill. ..Source..

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FL- Bus stop protestors reach agreement

This takes the cake, the original issue was the school bus stop which is outside the park on the main road. Now, the resolution is, to install 9 cameras inside the park to monitor sex offenders, but which ones? In addition, the bus stop may have kids for a few minutes of the day, say twice a day, but they intend to monitor the sex offenders 24/7. Why? Is that a violation of any law or rights of the registrants? If parents would take their children to the bus stop there would not be any problem and $18,000 plus maintenance costs would be saved.

11-10-2009 Florida:

by Tracy Jacim

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - After spending many nights sleeping on the side of Orange Blossom Trail in protest and after trying to get a daycare established so that high-level sex offenders living nearby would have to move, a contract between abuse survivor Barbara Farris and the HOA at the Lakeshore Village Trailer Park was forged on Monday.

Some eighty sex offenders of all types live in the community near a school bus stop. They, with the permission of the park's owner, have agreed to install internet accessible surveillance cameras throughout the park and at the bus stop.

Farris shook hands with not one, but two sex offenders who live in the Lakeshore Village Trailer Park.

"We are all happy with the outcome," said Farris, who will no longer threaten to put a daycare up to chase the high level offenders out.

Instead, Farris and her watchdog group Bee Aware, will install nine surveillance cameras. Only Farris and a select few will have the access code to access them any time online.

Farris explains, "If they're going to do something wrong, offenders will change patterns, and now we'll be able to see them on tape. We'll be recording 24 hours."

"We've been fighting for the wrong reasons. We're really out for same resolution," said the president of the park's HOA. He is also a registered sex offender.

He says he also wants a safe community. He also wants surveillance cameras to keep a close eye on the higher level repeat offenders.

"A consensus vote was taken by the park and we came up with a high 70 percent vote for the surveillance cameras proposed by Ms. Farris. If you're not doing something wrong, what have you got to worry about?"

They hope to have nine cameras installed within the month. Each one will cost about $2,000, and Farris is footing the entire bill. ..Source..

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FL- Bus stop moved near sex offender's home

If parents would study Dep't of Justice statistics, those created by their ow tax dollars, they would find that 97%+ of prior sex offenses were committed by a family, friend or acquaintance (FFA) of the child. Yet parents would rather have their child stand waiting for the bus in the front of a FFA home where the child is more likely to be a victim of a sex offense. Think about it. Yes, using logic not fear, that politicians spew.....

10-27-2009 Florida:

TEQUESTA, FL -- It's a dark wait at the bus stop on Country Club Drive in Tequesta for several Bak Middle Schools students, but their mothers say it's a different kind of darkness that makes part of their trek to and from school each day so potentially dangerous.

A registered sex offender lives just across the street.

Alexander Scholling was just released from prison where he served time for possessing child pornography.

Around the same time he was allowed to move back into his home, the Palm Beach County School District moved the bus stop for Bak Middle School students one mile to just across from Scholling's home.

One mother, who asked not to be identified says, "It's scary; it's very scary as a mom."

It's a scare the parents shared with the school district's transportation department and a fear they say has been ignored.

One mother explains, "We want the bus stop moved and nobody responds to us."

So, they reached out to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

Detective Larry Wood says although it isn't illegal to move a bus stop so close to a sex offender's home, he agrees that it seems like a bad idea.

He called the school district's transportation department and requested that they relocate the stop.

Wood claims he was told that although the district is looking into the situation, the stop likely will not be moved.

One mother tells NewsChannel 5, "I was told the reason it's not being moved is that its inconvenient."

The parents say, it seems for the sake of avoiding inconvenience their children are now at risk.

Our calls to the transportation department and the Palm Beach County School District Public Information Officer were not returned. ..Source.. by

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MI- Sex offenders may have to avoid bus stops

Again, we have a Journalist who has not done proper research before writing this article which is riddled with errors. This bill will not protect anyone and will harm many. Further, how does one measure 1,000 feet of a school bus stop, when a bus stop has no boundaries, it is a pinpoint where the bus door opens up. And, such bus stops change like folks change their socks. Finally, there is already precedent to prevent such legislation from forcing one (if a RSO) who owns a home from his/her residence. This is bad law all around, contrived by lawmakers on a whim without proper thought or research; sounds good legislation.

10-22-2009 Michigan:

The Michigan House of Representatives has been asked to consider legislation that would prohibit registered sex offenders from working or loitering within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop.

House Bill (HB) 5505 was introduced on Thursday, Oct. 8 by state Rep. Marty Knollenberg (R-Troy). Among its co-sponsors are state Reps. Eileen Kowall (R-White Lake, Highland) and Chuck Moss (R-Orchard Lake). The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

"We do not want our children to be menaced by sex offenders," Moss said.

This lawmaker is fear-mongering as there have not been any incidents as he mentions.

State law already prohibits registered sex offenders from coming within 1,000 feet of an elementary, middle, or high school. HB 5505 would revise the definition of a school safety zone to include school bus stops.

There is no law that prohibits sex offender from "coming within" a proscribed distance of schools.

Under the the bill, a first violation would be a misdemeanor punishable by a year in prison, or a fine up to $1,000, or both. If found guilty after one or more prior violations, it would be a felony, punishable with no more than two years in jail and a fine of up to $2,000, or both.

The only exemption would be if the sex offender were meeting his or her own child at a bus stop.

There are several exemptions (See Sec. 36 at bottom of page) to "student safety zones" which have been ignored by the Journalist.

This is a particularly passionate issue for Kowall, who said she is concerned about a group rehabilitation home in White Lake Township. This summer, White Lake police learned that five sex offenders were living in the township at the same address. The home is owned by Sequoia Recovery Services of Pontiac, and now houses residents receiving drug and alcohol rehabilitation.

Just because several offenders are living together in a treatment center, is no reason to enact any law restricting them. This amounts to legalized vigilantism another form of hate legislation!

There are no longer any sexual offenders living in the home. Those that had been living there had jobs, were on tethers and were monitored by the state Department of Corrections.

"The situation in White Lake definitely made me aware, and mad," she said."We question them being able to operate in this neighborhood."

So the lawmaker is "mad" at the Operator of the treatment home, and uses her anger to enact laws against selected residents of the treatment center. Sounds like this lawmaker needs time-out anger training.

Kowall said there are often bus stops set up outside every every few houses, depending on if the stop is for elementary, middle, or high school students.

"We have to have tighter restraints on who we are letting into our neighborhoods. We have to be concerned about the safety of our neighborhoods first," she said.

"With this bill, protecting children is my first priority," she said. ..Source.. by Lisa Brody

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FL- Day Care May Oust Sex Offenders

Hummm, as I recall it is a tort (Abuse of Process) to use a legal process for an illegal reason! And, the damages are usually treble, but here it is Florida and justice is thin there...

10-22-2009 Florida:

Families Concerned About Bus Stop Location Take Action

ORLANDO, Fla. -- There is a new proposal that seeks to oust nearly 100 sex offenders by building a day care near their Central Florida homes.

What began as concern over a school bus stop located on Orange Blossom Trail near a mobile home park that houses more than 90 sex offenders became a plan to push them out in the name of children’s safety after a proposal to move the bus stop didn’t work.

The woman who came up with the plan, Barbara Farris, said she wants them out and away from the public school bus stop. In fact, Farris has been sitting down the street, protesting their presence.

“We’ve been out here for eight nights, slept out here, watching these sex offenders,” Farris said. “We watch them do crack, pick up prostitutes.”

According to the release conditions placed on sex offenders, they are prohibited from living near schools, churches and day cares, but there is nothing that says can’t live by the bus stop.

So Farris has ramped up her efforts, and said she has a location for the day care facility locked down and is working with someone who already owns multiple day cares.

Florida A & M Law professor Barbara Bernier said if Farris gets her way, the sex offenders will have to move.

Bernier said the plan is legal, but raises another legal conflict.

"The question is, does the sex offenders right to live where they're living trump an individuals right to set up a day care center?" Bernier said.

Several sex offenders who live at the Lake Shore Village Moble Home Park came out to talk to Local 6 about the proposal.

“We did our time,” said a sex offender who wished to remain anonymous. “We’re trying to do what’s right.”

Some sex offenders Local 6 spoke with said forcing them out of the area wouldn’t solve anything.

“Would you rather have 91 sex offenders in a park that has police protection because the owner of the park provides that to watch over what's going on, or would you rather have them scattered all over Orlando?” asked another offender who did not want to be identified.

Still, Farris said she hopes to her proposal will be approved and enacted quickly.

“Once we get our license approved, they have 24 hours to relocate,” Farris said.

Farris said she has a list of other monitored communities where they could relocate, but all are out of the county. ..Source.. by Click on Orlando



School bus stop protest in Orange County

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A small group of Orange County citizens held a protest Wednesday. They say they don't want a school bus stop near an area where registered sex offenders live.

It all began two weeks ago when abuse survivor Barbara Farris discovered a bus stop along North Orange Blossom Trail surrounded by two trailer parks where nearly 100 sex offenders live, and some 200 more live within a 3-mile radius. But the Orange County School District says they won’t move the bus stop, because kids who live nearby need it. Farris said she is determined to keep the kids away from the sex offenders. At another small protest along Orange Blossom Trail Wednesday night, Farris said she’s found another to do that, by opening a daycare.

FOX 35 Reporter Tracy Jacim asked Farris, “Have you gotten a license?"

Farris responded, “I’m not going to respond to that."

Jacim asked, “A lot of people watching this tonight will say this is all just a bunch of talk. You're just looking for publicity. It's not going to happen. And even if you do get a license, your're not going to get any of these sex offenders to leave because they won't have to."

Farris replied, “They won't? Why not? They can't be near a daycare?"

Jacim said, “Nothing in the Florida statute says they wouldn't be grandfathered in.”

Farris said, “You've got them moving in every day, different offenders, boom, boom, boom. Day by day by day. That’s not grandfathered in."

Farris says if the daycare ploy doesn’t do it, she’ll take it all the way to Tallahassee and further. She says the laws need to be changed. She says she’s reached out to County Commissioner Fred Brummer who represents this district.

Brummer said, "She may have found a method to prevent future items. This may become a popular item. If it works, it may become a popular movement around every mobile home along 441 where some mom has the courage to go out there and apply for that license and spend the money every year to make sure a landlord doesn’t bring more offenders into the community.”

Jacim asked Brummer, “Are you for it?”

Brummer replied, “I'm willing to try anything.” ..Source.. by TRACY JACIM | FOX 35 News

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IN- Where Should Sex Offenders be Allowed to Live?

It is a myth that, former offenders will recidivate in the neighborhood where they live. In fact, a Minnesota DOC study of former sex offenders that did recidivate, found the following:

"Based on the examination of level three re-offenders (deemed MOST LIKELY to recidivate), there were no examples that residential proximity to a park or school was a contributing factor in any of the sexual re-offenses. Enhanced safety due to proximity restrictions may be a comfort factor for the general public, but it does not have any basis in fact.

The two level three offenders whose re-offenses took place near parks, drove from their residences to park areas that were several miles away. It appears that a sex offender attracted to such locations (school, bus, parks, etc.) for purposes of committing a crime is more likely to travel to another neighborhood in order to act in secret rather than in a neighborhood where his or her picture is well known." Minnesota DOC. (Note: Phillip Garrido drove 160 miles away from his home to kidnap Jaycee at her school bus stop. Sarah Tofte "What can we learn from the Garrido case? 9-21-2009)

Further, if a child is supervised by a parent (required by laws in every state. Check Child Protective Services law for your state) then there is no possibility of danger to the child.

10-10-2009 Indiana:

The story about a bus stop near the house of a sex offender has raised questions about where sex offenders should be able to live. Some lawmakers want to add more rules and prevent them from living near a bus stop.

There are close to 3500 registered sex offenders in Marion County and they live all over the place and in some cases within a mile or less of a school bus stop.

There's already a law saying offenders with crimes involving children can't live within 1,000 feet of a park, school, or youth program center.

Should they be forced to move away from bus stops too? The mother of a convicted child molester speaks out. "It's unfair they have decided to prosecute anybody. We don't have laws that say there's a drunk driver that can't live near you or somebody who's robbed somebody."

Note: What this mother says is very true, ex: when a drunk driver is going home from a bar -most likely where they got drunk- they are driving drunk in the neighborhood where they live endangering everyone, including children at bus stops -if during the day-.

But Lawrence city leaders see it differently; they want to add school bus stops to that list by creating an ordinance or something else.

A law could be challenging though especially at the bus stop at East 47th Street and Karen where 68 offenders are located around that bus stop.

American Civil Liberties Union Attorney Ken Falk says there's little if any evidence that proves a new restriction will deter predators.

"There may be a bus stop on this corner this year. It may be moved to the next corner. So does that mean the offender has to move every year, every six months?"

Mapping out a solution won't be easy, but Lawrence City Officials hope to sit down with school leaders soon and come up with a game plan by the end of the week. ..Source.. by WXIN-TV

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MA- Parents alarmed by sex offender

Interesting here is, that nowhere does this woman even consider personally taking responsibility for her child at the bus stop or walking to the bus stop. Read carefully, its always someone else that is expected to watch out for her child's safety.

UPDATE: In response to viewer comment. Yes I do understand what friends are for and you are mistaken as to what house I live in, many many many miles away. All assumptions come from what the article says, if it is correct but if it fails to show facts its impossible to know them. MY reasons for concern here are due to the recent Garrido case, where Jaycee lived only a block or so from her home when she was kidnapped. Yes, I have deep concerns with any child walking -any distance, block to a mile- to and from schools or school bus stops. And I am a firm believer there is no better protection than a parent hand-in-hand. Finally, the biggest problem kids face today does not come from the known offender down the street, parents need to recognize that: CLICK for thousands of cases of experience as to who the real offenders are (right hand column as to those under 18)! See also: Indicators of School Crime and Safety: All Years see Indicator 3, Prevalence of Victimization at School (“At school” includes the school building, on school property, on a school bus, and, from 2001 onward, going to
and from school.)

9-15-2009 Massachusetts:

WEST BARNSTABLE — Lee Haselton had worries about her eighth-grade daughter's bus stop.

Her daughter would have to walk more than a mile from home to get the bus in the early morning. She worried about her daughter's safety, walking near traffic while it's still dark outside. Since eighth-graders now attend Barnstable High School, she wouldn't know many of the other students at the stop.

So Haselton, a professor at Cape Cod Community College, asked a friend near the Cedar Street and Willow Street bus stop to keep an eye on her 13-year-old daughter. What the neighbor told her left her with a new batch of concerns. A level 3 sex offender lived in a house across the street from the bus stop.

So she started making calls, along with the neighbor, including to town councilor Henry Farnham.

Last night, about 50 concerned residents and parents joined Haselton at the West Barnstable Fire Station to express their concerns and find out more about the sex offender, 60-year-old John Stangl.

No school officials were there, but the crowd soon learned that Stangl is hardly the only high-risk sex offender in town. There are currently 16 level 3 sex offenders working or living in town, Barnstable Police Chief Paul MacDonald said. A level 3 sex offender, designated by the Sex Offender Registry Board, is considered a high risk to re-offend.

Stangl moved into the house at 475 Willow St. in late June after being released from prison in Plymouth, MacDonald said. Notices were sent out to a long list of community groups, and Barnstable schools, MacDonald said.

Stangl had been convicted three times since 1998 on charges of open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior. In each case, including one time in Barnstable, Stangl exposed himself in public and committed a lewd act, MacDonald said.

In June, a man who said he's a minister offered to let Stangl temporarily live in his Willow Street home, MacDonald said.

MacDonald said Stangl knows many residents don't want him in the area, but legally, he has a right to live there.

"For now, you have to take due diligence," MacDonald said.

Town officials said any resident can get on the police department's e-mail system that notifies people when a level 3 sex offender moves into town or takes a job in town.

The residences of level 2 sex offenders, considered a "moderate" risk, can be accessed at the Barnstable Police Department.

In Stangl's case, he is not allowed on school property or several other areas such as public libraries, MacDonald said. He has a tether that monitors his location.

Many parents said they worried about their children's safety and peppered the police chief with questions. Could they post Stangl's level 3 sex offender release in public? Yes. Should they call police if they see him on school property? Yes.

But MacDonald said residents couldn't let emotion take them too far. If they confronted or harassed a registered sex offender, they could be arrested.

"You are walking a very fine line here ... you could be charged with a crime," he said.

No school officials were at the meeting to describe how they monitor bus stops that are near sex offenders' homes. After the meeting, Farnham said Barnstable Schools Supt. Patricia Grenier was scheduled to attend but told him she had a meeting that wouldn't allow her to stay for the entire session, which started at 6:30 p.m.

"I thought Patti was going to be there so we would be assured the bus drivers would have a heads-up on this guy," she said.

Grenier could not be reached for comment last night.

Haselton said the school district told her that her daughter's bus route was scheduled to change next week.

"I think this has been very healing," she said about the meeting, but she still had questions about how the school notifies parents of sex offenders. ..Source.. by ROBERT GOLD

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NC- CMS bus stop in front of sex offender's house

Has anyone heard of a "Neighborhood Watch" system where different folks take turns watching the neighborhood. How about parents -instead of leaving their child alone at a bus stop, which is illegal virtually everywhere (Check w/CPS), parents supervise their children. Its called obeying the law!

8-23-2009 North Carolina:

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools bus stop is right in front of a registered sex offender's house, but CMS won't change the bus stop's location despite parents' pleas.

That has parents in the Winget Pond neighborhood ticked off. They contacted us after getting their childrens' bus assignments in the mail.

His name is Robert Lance Neal. Court records show he's a registered sex offender, convicted for sexually abusing a 10-year-old in Illinois.

Now, records show Neal lives on Arrington Heights Place in Charlotte. Out his front door is a CMS bus stop.

"Eight to ten that I'm aware of," a mother says describing home many children are picked up at the stop.

She doesn't want to be identified, but wants a new bus stop further away from Neal.

"I do believe that there are some easy steps that could be taken that at least we could feel more comfortable with, knowing that kids are being dropped off on that particular corner of the neighborhood," she said.

But, CMS says the bus stop location isn't changing because they can't control and police bus stops.

And, CMS says registered sex offenders are everywhere -- and it would have to change bus stops all the time.

We searched and found three sex offenders in the Winget Pond neighborhood. Broaden out the search to 5 miles and you can see more sex offenders pop up.

Parent Valerie Hall doesn't buy CMS' explanation. Her five kids use that bus stop.

"There's no way that an elementary school girl should be at a bus stop where a sex offender lives," Hall said.

Neighbors say Neal stays to himself and hasn't caused problems. They say he's the example of their concern, and so too is CMS' lack of action.

"You do what you have to do to protect our children. That's the main concern," Hall said.

CMS policy says sex offenders can't go on CMS property. That includes bus stops. So, it means when Neal is home and kids are at the bus stop, he can't be there. If he is, CMS law enforcement will remove him.

CMS asks parent to help them monitor these situations and stay at the bus stops with their kids until they get on the bus. ..Source.. by Tony Burbeck, WCNC

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KY- What to do when you feel your child’s bus stop may be by a sex offender’s home

Parents have nothing to worry about if their child's school bus stop is near a registrants home, or near a murderers' home. Why you ask? Well, since the parent or other appointed adult is always with the child, whats the problem? Yes parents, its against the law to leave your child unattended anywhere, if you don't believe this, check with local Child Protective Services (CPS).

8-22-2009 Kentucky:

Children often stand anywhere from ten to thirty minutes at a bus stop waiting on their bus to pick them up. This bus is taking them to their safe place for the day. But what do you do when your child’s bus stop is not safe? This has recently been an issue here in Jefferson County Kentucky when a local news channel first reported a story.

One bus stop was right by a registered sex offender’s home. The parent did not feel comfortable with his child having to stand there and wait for the bus. He wanted the stop moved down the street on the path the bus was already taken but was told no. This story has a happy ending, but what should you do to protect your child?

First thing you need to do is search the local sex offender registry . You can click on the radius map link on the left and put in your child’s bus stop address. This will show you any registered sex offenders within a one mile radius.

You can even click on the name of the offender to view the type of sex offense and age of the victim. If you have concerns, you can contact Jefferson County Public Schools. They will listen to your concerns and discuss them with you. Remember, riding the bus is a dependable way to get your child to and from school everyday! ..Source.. by Jennifer Harp

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FL- Sex offenders may be banished by proposed Winter Garden rule

3-26-2009 Florida:

Sex offenders living in Winter Garden could be banished from the city by an ordinance being considered by officials tonight.

If adopted, the ordinance would restrict where people convicted of a sex-related crime may live by adding a restriction that forbids them from residing within 2,500 feet of school-bus stops.

That added restriction would effectively ban them from living in the city, said Jill Levenson, an assistant professor at Lynn University in Boca Raton who specializes in sex-offender issues.

"It's not popular to defend those people, but we have decades of research that shows this will just make the problem worse," she said. "Having unstable housing is the biggest predictor of who will re-offend."

Winter Garden police Chief George Brennan and City Manager Mike Bollhoefer said the ordinance isn't intended to banish anyone, but to protect children.

Brennan thinks the change wouldn't ban anyone. The city has about 30 registered sex offenders, he said, and they would not be forced to move based on the ordinance update.

But Levenson said the bus-stop ordinance "demolishes housing availability."

Winter Garden, about 3 miles by 4 miles, has about 300 bus stops. When those are added to other restricted places such as schools, parks and day-care facilities, there likely isn't a place for an offender to live, she said. ..News Source.. by Rich McKay | Sentinel Staff Writer

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CO- School District Won't Move Bus Stop Away From Sexually Violent Predator

The problem here is not the RSO it is the parent. There isn't a state in the U.S. which permits parents to allow their children to be unsupervised in the public. Parents need to get the picture, they need to go with their children to the bus stop until the child gets on the bus, then there is no worry from a RSO or a murder or a burgular or a person who has committed any other kind of crime. Parents need to recognize that 95% of sex crimes are committed by someone known to the victim such as Uncle Joe, the person next door, or get this, the TEACHER the child / young adult is getting off the bus to go learn from in the school.

1-7-2009 Colorado:

PEYTON - What would you do if a sexually violent predator moved into a home near your child's bus stop? Charity Weese is dealing with that exact scenario. Her three kids go to Falcon Elementary School and pick up the bus stop just down the street from her home. One month ago, a sexually violent predator moved into a trailer two-tenths of a mile from the bus stop.

"I mean it's really scary, you don't want your kids to become victims," says Weese. "School's been out, so it's been okay, but now you know we're going back to work, kids are going back to school and everything. We're not always right there being able to watch."

The bus stop is at the corner of Stage Stop Road and Slocum Road in Peyton. On December 5th, 2008, Kelly Stroble moved to 4955 Slocum Road, two-tenths of a mile from the bus stop. In 1999, Stroble was convicted of sexual assault on a child by a person in position of trust. His victims were ages 8-to-14.

He's considered a sexually violent predator because he meets certain criteria and is considered likely to commit another sex crime.

"We're just on the other side of this hill, we can't see down there at the bus stop," says Weese. "For the transportation people to pick the kids up and drop them off and just wipe their hands and be done with it, what is the purpose then?"

"Society has said that they're deemed appropriate to be out in society," says Falcon District 49 Chief Operating Officer Paul McCarty.

District 49 isn't moving the bus stop. McCarty says other kids at the same stop would be affected.

"(The Weese) home is down here and the other students are down in this area," says McCarty pointing farther down the road.

The district's transportation committee can choose to move the stop. Weese will take her plea to the committee's next meeting later this month. If the committee approves a move, the district would then have to pick a new location. If not, the bus stop won't be moving. ..News Source.. by Marshall Zelinger

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IN- Bus stop controversy

9-19-2008 Indiana:

MONROEVILLE, Ind. (WANE) - Parents tell Newschannel 15 they're not comfortable with who lives in front of their children's Monroeville bus stop, but the school district says there's nothing to worry about.

The person in question is on the state's sex and violent offender registry. While that can sound alarming, there's more to this story.

"We all feel that that stop should be moved," says a concerned mom who wished to remain anonymous. She wasn't happy with what her neighbors found online.

"One of the neighbors brought over a sheet that she had printed off, showing his name and that he was on the sex offender registry," she said.

There are no official signs, but the official bus stop for kids living in the area of Ohio and Barnhart is just a few steps away from the house in question.

The man in question lives there, and is on the registry for a crime that dates back more than 10 years. What the registry fails to make clear is the nature of his charges, so Newschannel 15 went looking for answers.

His mother was home when we went there. We asked the details of his conviction.

"It was a domestic thing between him and his wife. It had nothing to do with children whatsoever," the mother said.

The sex offender had spent a year in jail for the charges, but will spend the rest of his life on the registry... a registry that can leave confusion.

"There are a lot of different ways you can get on the registry. Every offender is different," said Corporal Jeff Shimkus of the Allen County Sheriff's Department. He says convictions of Criminal Confinement to murder can make the list... none of which are sexual.

Still, a Monroeville mother is concerned.

"It's quite scary, not only for my own son, but for the neighborhood's children who get off there everyday," she said.

In a statement to Newschannel 15, the school district says, quote, "After discussion and review with local law enforcement, East Allen County Schools does not see a necessity to move the bus stop at this time."

Again, the sex offender's charges have nothing to do with children whatsoever. Police say where he lives now does not violate the rules of the registry, and the school district feels it is perfectly safe for children to get on and off the bus in front of this house. ..News Source.. by WANE TV

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How close is too close? Sex offenders and bus stops

Well known and accepted fact: Over 95% of new sex offenses against minors are committed by someone known to the minor (uncle Joe, Cousin Bill, etc.) and who is not on any sex offender registry. Shouldn't parents be FAR MORE concerned about the Uncle Joes living close who may be watching kids at bus stops?
WCNC Investigators find dozens of CMS bus stops within 600 feet of sex offenders’ addresses

2-14-2008 North Carolina:

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- When convicted sex offenders live near your kids’ school bus stop, how close is too close? Six-hundred feet? How about across the street?

And how many is too many? Three sex offenders within 600 feet? Four sex offenders? Five?

“He’s a convicted sex offender? I had absolutely no idea.”

That was one neighbor’s reaction at an apartment complex on Sharon Lakes Road, as the WCNC Investigators went knocking on doors -- looking for five convicted sex offenders with addresses on North Carolina’s Sex Offender Registry within 600 feet of the school bus stop at Sharon Lakes and Mereview Court.

Parents waiting for the afternoon school bus with their kids on board also had no idea.

“Five? Within this area?” asked one parent. “That’s terrible,” said another parent, shaking her head. “Freaking pitiful,” was the reaction of a third mom.

At the Sharon Lakes and Mereview bus stop, where buses for four different schools pick up and drop off children, the neighborhood sex offenders on the Sex Offender Registry include two men convicted of taking indecent liberties with minors. There’s also a convicted rapist who lists his home as an apartment right across the street from the bus stop.

“Why would a bus stop be here? And a sex offender right there?” asked one mom gesturing to the apartment behind her. “That's terrible.”

“He might be watching. That s**t is too close for comfort,” said another, who added she’s had problems with other adult men at this bus stop before.

WCNC: “This guy is watching your daughter?”

Parent: “Watching her.”

WCNC: “After she got off the bus?”

Parent: “After she got off the bus. My kids and the people in the neighborhood need to be protected. Because there's a lot of little girls over here.”

The WCNC Investigators found at least 23 other Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools bus stops that also had three or more convicted sex offenders living within 600 feet, according to their addresses on the Sex Offender Registry.

But a spokesperson for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools admitted that CMS didn’t know that the sex offenders’ addresses were so close to school bus stops -- until WCNC told them. That may be because CMS doesn't do what we did -- matching up the school system's own computer list of bus stop locations with the sex offender database available right on the Internet, then mapping both together to see how close they really are.

Instead, CMS issued a written statement, saying they are "not aware of any studies or evidence indicating that using this database or moving a stop one block further from a known sex offenders' home results in an actual improvement in student safety."

The statement says "such a move could inadvertently place a bus stop in a more dangerous location." And CMS adds that they "work closely with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office to monitor sex offenders who live near schools, and to alert principals and parents of possible concerns."

But the parents whose kids wait at Sharon Lakes and Mereview every day say nobody alerted them.

“They should tell people a sexual offender lives in your area,” said one parent leaving the bus stop with her children.”

Another mom reacted angrily to finding out about the sex offenders from WCNC, instead of from the school system. She says the only thing worse than knowing there are convicted sex offenders nearby is not knowing.

“If they can't do anything about putting the bus stop any further, why aren't we informed? Why not? They would want to know if their kid was in the neighborhood with the bus stop with the sex offender. Yeah. Wouldn't you? Wouldn't you? Wouldn't y'all?” ..more.. by JEFF SONIER / WCNC

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