sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com : Sex Offenders Near School Under Construction.
wlwt.com Cincinnati : New School Could Have Sex Offenders As Neighbors.
This is yet another example of societal hysteria and inane legislation. They decide to build a new school in a bad neighborhood and now want to remove any nearby sex offender from this bad neighborhood and from the adjacent homeless shelter. See video below.
CINCINNATI -- When the new $62-million School for the Creative and Performing Arts opens in Over-the-Rhine next year, it will have 1,300 students from across the city. It could also have as many as 19 sex offenders living nearby.
"Well, it's outrageous. It concerns me and I'm sure it concerns most parents," Cincinnati City Councilman Jeff Berding said. Ten of them live within a quarter-mile of the school, while nine more told authorities that they live across the street at the Drop Inn Center, a homeless shelter.
"There are laws on the books that we should enforce to make sure this can't happen," Berding said. (But these laws have been ruled to be unconstitutional, Jeff.)
But the law in question won't allow it. That's because the 19 men committed their crimes before passage of the current law that bans them from coming within 1,000 feet of schools. That means those 19 sex offenders are exempt from the law, and unless they commit another crime, cannot be forced to move.
Meanwhile, the Drop Inn Center's executive director said that the nine men who said they live at the center don't live there. "We do not house sex offenders at all. It's against the law," Pat Clifford said. (Oh really? I thought the registries were a sure-fire way to track all sex offenders...hmm)
"Does a sex offender go to the public library downtown? Can you say, yes or no, whether a sex offender has been in a public library? You don't know. You can't prove yes or you can't prove no. Is a sex offender in Washington Park right now? I can't prove it. It's a public place," he said.
Previous studies have shown that despite laws requiring offenders to register their address, the address given can easily be wrong. Some have even registered parking lots near the Ohio River as their home.
Cincinnati Public Schools said they work closely with Cincinnati and Hamilton County to ensure the safety and security of school children. (which is really the whole crux of the issue. Parents need to take their own responsibility to protect their children from all kinds of dangers - not limited to sex offenders)
