“The public thinks the law is very clear-cut, but because of court rulings the sex offender laws can be confusing to the public,” said Ron Van Nuys of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.
That confusion trickles down to where a sex offender can live, including the proximity to a school or day care.
“Over time the appeals courts have chipped away at different parts of the sex offender laws and this in return also complicates the enforcement of it,” said Van Nuys, who is Greene County’s Sex Offender and Registration and Notification (SORN) officer.
There are 2,443 registered sex offenders — not all counties’ lists show juveniles — in Montgomery, Greene, Warren, Butler, Miami, Clark, Darke, Champaign and Preble counties.
In Greene County, more than 80 percent of the 139 adult registered sex offenders live within a mile of a school or day care.
To calculate that number, the Dayton Daily News cross-referenced all the 139 listed offenders’ addresses against Greene County schools, preschools and daycares and asked the SORN director about those offenders near the 1,000-foot boundaries.
Several of those also live within 1,000 feet of such facilities, but do so legally, either because they committed an offense before a law change or because they owned their house previously to committing a sex crime.
In Montgomery County, officials said nine registered sex offenders are currently being prosecuted for living too close to a school or day care — six in Dayton and one each in Northridge, Miamisburg and Huber Heights. Eleven more have charges against them for registration violations.
In addition, 63 of more than 1,000 registered sex offenders in Montgomery County live within 1,000 feet of a school or day care but are not subject to the law — 54 committed their offense before the law changes and nine are juvenile offenders, who are not subject to the boundary.
The Ohio Supreme Court has deemed unconstitutional multiple parts of the state sex-offender law passed in 2008 to comply with the federal Adam Walsh Act (AWA).
The court cases have shown that sex offenders couldn’t be subjected to guidelines retroactively since that may violate the due process and double jeopardy clauses of the U.S. Constitution. Dissenting judges have written that the AWA rules are not punitive toward offenders, but rather for the public’s safety.
The latest of three court decisions was an April 3 ruling that struck down, by a 5-2 vote, part of Ohio’s sexual offender law that subjects juvenile offenders to mandatory, lifetime sex-offender registration and notification requirements.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio said it supports prosecution and conviction of sex offenders, especially repeaters.
But the ACLU says on its website that sex offenders are entitled to some basic constitutional protection.
In December, ACLU of Nevada attorney Maggie McLetchie told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that similar laws punishing sex offenders by upping their tier classifications and forcing some to move because they were near a school were unconstitutional. “It was being applied retroactively,” McLetchie said. “We needed an injunction because parole and probation officers were telling our clients they had to move.”
Church has a ‘mission’
One of the highest concentrations of offenders near a school or day care in Greene County is a two-mile radius around the Fairborn Preschool and Daycare at 100 N. Broad St. in Fairborn. The area is home to 36 registered sex offenders.
Eight of those are within a quarter-mile of the day care housed in the St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. Nearly all committed their crime before the sex offender laws changed in 2003 and 2007, so the 1,000-foot barrier doesn’t apply to most of those offenders.
“We are very lucky that we have a very low teacher-to-child ratio here,” said Mary Gale, director of the school.
“I’m confident that the children are watched carefully. When we’re out on the playground, it’s obvious when someone is walking by that we are not familiar with.”
After a Dayton Daily News inquiry, one registered sex offender who was bound by the 1,000-foot boundary (near the church) was told to move. The offender had been living in violation since January, when he told officials that his stay would be temporary. He is moving to a Xenia motel that is not near schools.
That same offender pleaded guilty in Clark County of trying to solicit sex from a Springfield police officer posing as a 14-year-old girl. That led to a search of his computer, which yielded 138 images of child pornography. He also was charged in Greene County but successfully appealed to not be classified as a habitual offender.
The same man was found guilty in 2009 in Greene County of illegal use of a minor in a nudity-oriented material or performance.
Like many others, the offender may have been drawn to downtown Fairborn due to its low-cost housing options.
“We know we’ve got these motels and places close by,” Gale said. “Of course, we’d rather they wouldn’t be, but they are here. We think we’re a mission in the downtown area. ... We feel like this is where a church is needed.”
One registered sex offender who lives near Fairborn Baker Middle School fought the effort to be removed from his home in 2005.
Fairborn City Solicitor Mike Mayer said he fought that battle for nearly eight months before losing in court when the magistrate ruled the 1,000-foot rule didn’t apply to the offender since he’d lived there for decades before his offense.
“There can be an argument made that people have this false sense that there’s not going to be any (registered sex offenders living) within a thousand feet, just black and white,” Mayer said. “But it’s not that clear.”
• One offender who raped a juvenile lives a minute’s walk from Tiny Tots Academy in Xenia.
• Another is a few blocks from the YMCA child care center in Xenia. Both offended before the law changed.
• One offender in Beavercreek is a 45-second drive from La Petite Academy.
• One of the offenders near the Fairborn church would be subject to the 1,000-foot rule if his offense had happened 15 days later.
• Another near the church is 1,045 feet away. Many of the offenders had juvenile victims.
“It’s not the safety net that maybe some think it is,” Mayer said. “We need to rely on other things than just notification.”
Registry is ‘helpful’
If violators are found in Montgomery County, SORN Sgt. Julie Stephens said offenders have 30 days to vacate the residence before an eviction hearing is held in court.
The more than 1,000 registered sex offenders in Montgomery County require three detectives plus the road crews to check on addresses, according to Stephens: “We devote quite a bit of resources to it.”
In Warren County, Lebanon City Council member Matt Rodriguez pushed for stricter restrictions on where convicted sex offenders could live, but the measure failed.
Lebanon is developing an anti-loitering restriction that would punish convicted sex offenders caught hanging around areas where children congregate. Of the more than 200 registered sex offenders in Warren County, about 40 live in Lebanon.
Two years ago in Butler County, a task force led by U.S. Marshals found that 32 out of 472 registered sex offenders were found to be out of compliance and facing a host of other additional non-related charges such as firearms violations, drug trafficking and parole violations.
There are several ways residents can keep track of registered sex offenders. Search engines are available on each county sheriff’s website, email alerts can be sent by registering on those websites and cards are mailed out to schools and day cares when an offender moves nearby.
Van Nuys said since its inception five or six years ago, 55,312 households have signed up for the Greene County email alerts.
Last summer, the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force introduced an iPhone app promoted by former NBA player Shaquille O’Neal.
Van Nuys said that statewide, the app has been downloaded 4,825 times from www.ohioICAC.org.
Greene County Adult Probation Director Melissa Litteral said there is a misconception that all registered sex offenders go behind bars.
“They don’t always go to prison,” she said. “There are people that are on probation that are sex offenders.”
She said her office currently is monitoring 42 offenders who are required to go through sex offender treatment. Litteral encourages parents to keep an eye on the sexual offender registry.
“I think it’s helpful. If I had little kids, I’d be looking at it,” she said.
“As a parent, you have to be prepared, and that means doing your due diligence in looking that stuff up. ... I think it’s a good tool for the public; I think it’s a great tool for law enforcement and probation. I think you have to do that. Because these are the type of people that will offend again without proper treatment and you need to keep track of them.”
Sheriff’s offices are required to check that offenders are living in the residences that they registered.
Often, offenders are cited for failure to register, which takes up law enforcement and court resources.
“We’re always fighting a battle because these guys are always playing games and trying to mislead,” Van Nuys said. “The challenges are making sure the information we are given is correct and verifying where they are living.”
About the Author