I wonder, has the general public looked closer at cameras on other private residences, to see IF IF IF they may be pointing to similar "places where youths gather," we cannot forget, that, 95% of new sex crimes are committed by someone NOT ON the registry. Perspective perspective perspective....3-12-2011 Indiana:
JEFFERSONVILLE — A registered sex offender said pointing a home security camera at the Clark County Youth Shelter was a “stupid mistake,” but that he meant no harm.
Clark County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Randy Burton said Raymond Siller, 63, lives 144 feet door to door from the shelter in Jeffersonville. Burton said the shelter’s executive director complained to police after neighbors told her Siller had a camera set up facing their building and that he was possibly on the sex offender registry.
Burton said they issued Siller a no trespass warning not to go near the shelter, but that is all they can do. The cameras set up on the outside of his house are now pointed at his property, and he is not in violation of the registry.
A new statute prohibiting registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school, youth center or public park did not go into effect until 2006. The law does not apply to anyone convicted prior to that date.
Siller said the cameras are set up around his house because people in the neighborhood have been vandalizing his property. He has two large CB radio antennas on his house that have been damaged and the tires of his car were slashed.
Siller said he believed the vandals ran behind his house through a parking lot. He pointed one of his cameras in that direction, but that’s also facing a side door of the shelter and a basketball hoop where children play.
Siller said he has lived at the same house in the 200 block of Wall Street for five years and never knew the building behind him was a shelter. He said he “wasn’t thinking” when he moved the camera in that direction.
Burton said Siller living and having cameras set up so close to the shelter still concerns him even if it is not illegal.
“It’s a big concern,” Burton said. “It’s a little too close to the youth shelter. Kids go there for a place to get away from a dangerous situation. They are there to be protected.”
The shelter’s director did not respond to a message seeking comment.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Department registry shows 10 registered offenders living within a quarter-mile radius, or 1,320 feet, of the youth shelter and 24 within a half-mile. A search by the News and Tribune showed sex offenders living within a quarter-mile of most Clark County schools.
According to court records, Siller was convicted of first-degree sodomy in 1994 in Jefferson County, Ky., and he served a prison sentence in Kentucky until 2003. Siller pointed out that he has not been convicted of an offense against a child, saying, “I have no interest in children.”
“I’ve never hurt anyone in my life, including the victim [in the sodomy case],” Siller said.
Siller said he was never actually convicted of the offense, but said it was too complicated to explain why he went to prison. He is in the process of writing two books about how he was “railroaded” by the Kentucky judicial system, he said.
“I’ve been criticized, ridiculed, labeled and threatened,” Siller said.
He was also arrested in July 2007 after two 13-year-old girls walking near Eighth Street and Springdale Drive called the Jeffersonville Police Department claiming they were stalked by Siller. According to court records, another motorist called and reported he was acting suspicious following the girls in his vehicle.
The two girls alleged he made inappropriate sexual comments about their appearance, and when they told him their ages, he said that made it “much better.” Inside Siller’s vehicle, police found a CB radio and a mounted camera.
Siller was charged with felonies for child exploitation and solicitation and obscene performance. The case went to a bench trial, and Siller was found not guilty of all counts except class A misdemeanor resisting law enforcement.
“I supposedly yelled obscenities at two girls, two nasty looking girls,” Siller said. “Judge [Vicki] Carmichael didn’t find me not guilty because she liked me.”
Siller must still face three counts of class D felony failure to register from 2007 and 2008. That case is scheduled for trial April 12, and he could face six months to three years in prison if convicted.
Burton said there is a high number of sex offenders in the area around the shelter. ..Source.. by Matt Thacker
