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Bill would split up sex offenders
By Stephen Dawkins Published 5:28pm Friday, December 9, 2011Sex offenders living together at the same residence in Chilton County could be the catalyst for a statewide law banning such arrangements.
In the past year and a half, 23 people convicted of sex crimes have been released to the same address, 40 County Road 374 off Enterprise Road south of Clanton, according to information provided by C.J. Robinson with District Attorney Randall Houston’s office.
Nine of the registered sex offenders were living at the address as of Thursday morning, according to Chilton County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Erric Price, who is responsible for keeping track of sex offenders.
State Rep. Kurt Wallace said he plans to file a bill that would place a limit on how close such people could live, effectively outlawing them from locating to the same residence unless it were a treatment facility and the sex offenders were under supervised care.
“I’ve talked with several other representatives, and they said they would sign onto it, too,” Wallace said. “I don’t think [the situation in Chilton County] is a good thing.”
Wallace said he plans to pre-file a bill before the state Legislature reconvenes in February 2012.
The owner of the property at County Road 374 declined to comment Friday. The registered sex offenders apparently are housed in campers behind Triumph Church, which is under construction.
Two residents in the area interviewed Thursday expressed concern about the situation but did not want to be quoted for this story.
Convicted sex offenders must notify the state about where they plan to live once they are out of custody.
“I began noticing the same address listed for offender after offender,” Robinson said. “This is not a licensed halfway house, nor am I aware of any type of specialized training that someone can give to rehabilitate a sex offender. This is a serious problem facing our community.”
Robinson said he received notice about 23 sex offenders being released to 40 County Road 374 from August 2010 through October 2011.
None of the men were arrested for crimes committed in Chilton County, according to Robinson’s information. The crimes include rape, sodomy, sexual abuse, assault with intent to ravish, aggravated sexual battery, and attempted rape; and the given ages of victims range from 4 to 29.
There is also a listed relationship between the sex offender and the person the offender is being released to. These relationships include clergy, manager, halfway house and friend.
Price said sheriff’s department officers have been called to the residence on at least a couple occasions because of fights between residents of the same address but that no crimes have been reported by neighbors.
“We’ve also gotten multiple calls from neighbors about them walking up and down the streets, knocking on doors and looking for work,” Price said.
Before we start quoting “Facts”, we should make sure they are actually facts. 1 in 3 offenders WILL reoffend. They may not be convicted for it, but they will reoffend. This is more common for offenders who have harmed children.
Living in Clanton, I was shocked and disgusted by this story. I don’t care what makes it harder on them, they should’ve thought about that before they committed the crime. In most states, the laws are way too easy on offenders. Typically, a person will spend more time in jail on a drug charge than they do on a rape or molestation charge, for first offense.
People need to think LESS about the offender’s comfort and ease of living, and MORE about the victims, and potential victims.
I live in this community and I am very concerned. Community notifications (required when a sex offender moves into the community) show many of these crimes are against young children. I know one woman in the community that used to walk and now she is scared to do that anymore. This situation is VERY uncomfortable for this community. In my opinion they should have thought about the consequences before they committed the crime. Everyone should know that most people are uncomfortable themselves and worried for the women and children when around known sex offenders. I appreciate the support from Rep. Kurt Wallace on this matter.
Clustering is a natural consequence of residency restriction laws. Therefore, Alabama is intent on compelling ex-offenders to disobey the law and not register. There is a reason why anti-clustering laws are virtually non-existent in other states.
Here are a few facts for you.
1. The vast majority of s*x crime arrests are of people with no prior record, let alone a prior s*x crime record.
2. Victims of such crimes are most likely to be victimized by family or close acquaintances than by a stranger.
3. Very few people on the registry re-offend.
I suppose if you don’t want registrants in one location, then it’d be better to abolish residency laws, like a growing number of states and municipalities have. If you have this law in place, you’ll simply discover people will stop registering. Then again, the registry is useless.
reformalabama dot blogspot dotcom
The registry is useless, because the men that don’t register obviously don’t want to be REFORMED, they have no intention of following the laws. I don’t believe sex offenders can be rehabilitated. And I don’t care what anyone says, having that many offenders in one place is asking for trouble. Regardless, make sure your facts are actual facts…
I understand that a lot of people are concerned about this property. There are 9 men living at this property and they are supervised. They have curfews, may get jobs attend church and help around the property.
I understand that people are concerned about so many sex offenders live in the same area. My question to you is there are drug infested neighborhoods selling to our kids. Why is there not a article about that? There are meth labs covering Chilton County, why do we not know where they meth heads are? There are thieves living next door, and they could steal our stuff and if all went bad they could KILL. I lived next door to a man who murdered his ex-girlfriend and had no idea.
I am not defending sex crimes, I am saying that there are a lot of crimes committed and we should be aware of all violent crimes.
This place where the 9 men live is a ministry, a fresh start. Yes sex offenders may strike again, but so do thieves and drug dealers.
We are all human and have our opinions. I personally believe that the 9 of them in the same place is better, because the police can better patrol that area, versus spreading them out all around. We have to think outside the box here.
I know this is controversial, but as Christiana and people let us try to be adults and be respectful regarding this subject. Have a good day, and please remember to be respectful with your comments.
You might not be defending sex crimes, but you sure seem to be defending sex criminals. Comparing the sexual abuse of a 4 year old child, or anyone of any age, to any of the other common crimes would be laughable if it wasn’t such a horrific crime. You speak of being respectful but have you considered how DISrespectful it is to the law abiding folks that live in that community to move these people in without consulting them, or at least letting them know about the “ministry” that is in their neighborhood? Apparently not. How are you going to feel about this “ministry” when one of the ministered rapes another child, or even an old lady? You better have some pretty good liablility insurance, and some even better explanations.
You want us to be “respectful” when discussing people who have sexually abused/raped, children and others? Good God.
And another thing: You say that these 9 men are supervised and have curfews. That alone shows that the owner of the property knows that they are a potential danger… and makes him/her responsible for them, and culpable.
You are presuming that every one of the men (or women, who also commit sex offenses) have abused a 4-year-old child. Certainly you realize how unfair that is to the individual who has not abused a 4-year-old… There are countless sex offenders who’ve never harmed a soul.
As for getting your permission before moving into your neighborhood goes, that’s just ridiculous. Who among your neighbors ever asked for your permission to live where they live? You’re not a warden, and your neighborhood isn’t a prison.
I wasn’t presuming anything. The ages listed run from 4 to 29. To say that some of these sexual offenders “never harmed a soul” is absolutely rediculous. Tell that to the father or mother or husband of someone that has been raped or otherwise sexually abused. You might want to do it over the phone though, otherwise you might get your teeth knocked out, or worse.
If one of my neighbors moves 9, or 23, convicted child rapists, or sexual abusers of any kind, into my neighborhood they’ll WISH they had run it by me first. I am responsible for the protection and security of my family and property and I’ll do whatever is necessary to be successful to that end. My neighborhood certianly is not a prison. It also is not a commune for rapists, nor will it be.
Not if, but when, one or more of these folks commits a sex offense of some type in or around that neighborhood, the owner of the property should be held responsible. They probably couldn’t be held criminally responsible but they sure should be held civilly responsible, which would at least cost them a ton of money to defend in court. Intentionally congregating known cretins of this type is irresponsible at best. For certain it is disrespectful of the other people in the community.
Will it be okay if the same conditions apply to your property? After all, we really don’t have any greater assurances about the future crimes you or your family may commit. Fair is fair, right? So, to protect us all, you should be personally liable for all the future crimes committed by members of your family–
If nine (or 23) members of my family become child rapists or sexual abusers of any kind, and I shack them up on my property, then, yes, the same would apply to me. That, however, is a moot point for several reasons. Not the least of which is that I would have enough respect for my neighbors not to create a commune of miscreants in their neighborhood.
Another thing to add…how can someone say that many sex offenders have never “harmed a soul”…if they didn’t harm anyone, WHY ARE THEY SEX OFFENDERS??? Why were they in jail? Why are they required by law to be registered for the rest of their lives? Seriously, people…monitor your words, you make yourselves sound completely ignorant when you say things like that. They may be reformed…but I still don’t want them in my neighborhood. And we have EVERY RIGHT to be concerned, and to be informed, and to have a say in this type of thing. This church should’ve considered that before creating a haven for these criminals.
And FYI…the article states that there have been, and may still be, offenders who have harmed children. If you think they’re reformed, ask them to babysit the kids in your family.