Councilwoman upset by letter indicating she rented apartment to a registered sex offender

I understand and appreciate the concern but all parties here. Residents of the area when an offender lives has the right to know of their presence, for the protection and safety of all. However, to bring about this publicity in such a loud fashion...isn't it some how a violation of this man's right to privacy? I am not condoning his actions by any means. He's done his time and has to live with restrictions and consequences of his actions, but shouldn't he be able to go on with some form of normal life? Otherwise, the laws should not release such an offender, but it does. Just saying. I apologize to anyone who is offended by my opinion, and I do respect and appreciate your concerns.

My statement is in no way adversarial to The Batavian printing this news. It's what they do.

The sex offender list is continued punishment after serving a sentence and I don't agree with its existence.

Once someone has done the time for a crime they should be able to live in relative obscurity.

And don't give me a "But the Children!" argument explain to me why a murderer of children has no restrictions on where they can live when they get out and a sexual offender does.

Lisa, I think it's ridiculous to tell an entire community that a sex offender lives in their neighborhood. It's really a moot point if one does because the majority of sex offenders victimize someone they know, not a complete stranger. The fact is, there are more sex offenders in an area that have never been caught than there are that have been convicted. I'm much more concerned with the thieves than I am with a sex offender. How about letting us know who all the thieves are so we know where to go when things like 4-wheelers are stolen? Everyone is much more likely to be victimized by a thief than a sex offender. All the sex offender registry does is panic the excitable people. I'll get clobbered for saying it but it doesn't make it any less true.

He has kids of his own now.

Lisa,

This man is listed in every sex offender database accessible to the public.

Anyone who wishes to learn the location of a registered sex offender in their community can search the Family Watchdog database at:

http://www.familywatchdog.us/Search.asp

Type in your zip code and hit enter.

FYI, Batavia currently has 130 registered sex offenders listed in the city.

You might even be surprised to know that there are 4 RSOs living a very short distance from St. Paul Lutheran School, one as close as 390 feet.

So tell us Lisa, how about these RSOs rights to privacy outweighing the public's right know where these low lifes are living?

Doug - I don't disagree. That's a point I never considered.

A sex offender is never rehabilitated. A sex offender needs to be known to ANYONE he or she may come in contact with. My grandchildren go to St. Paul School. They staff watches over them as if they were their own children. Staff and parents need to know of these people. They lost their right to privacy when they stole the innocence and physically hurt children. These children will be scarred for life. As for Rosemary Christian?? Those who know her know that she has NO TOLERANCE for crime or criminals. We have had several serious problems on the South Side this summer and she went above and beyond the call of duty to help solve the problems. She would NEVER rent to a sex offender.

Are landlords allowed to discriminate based on sex offender status? Seems like they shouldn't be permitted to.

Can the victims of sex offenders go on and lead a normal life?

Can the victims of murder?

Convicted sex offenders are not a protected class under the Fair Housing Act.

Lisa, Doug, REALLY????????????
I think you’re both way off point with the whole story. Lisa, first to you….Councilwoman Christian had EVERY right to bring this out into the open in “A Loud Fashion” as you put it because she received an anonymous letter calling her a hypocrite for always defending children and showing her strong conviction against sex offenders living near children. So, whoever the coward was that wrote that letter to Councilwoman Christian calling her a hypocrite, Councilwoman Christian made it clear to them in the forum which allowed her to do so. How could she answer a nasty letter with untruths if the coward wouldn’t put their name on the letter. You should apologize like you did, because your whole entry is disgusting.
I’m through with you Lisa, now onto you Doug……you should be apologizing for your entry as well, it’s very offensive and it’s like comparing an apple and an orange. You mean to tell me, and this is what you stated> How about letting us know who all the thieves are so we know where to go when things like 4-wheelers are stolen? Everyone is much more likely to be victimized by a thief than a sex offender. You are not wrapped to tight I don’t think. How dare you compare a fricken 4wheeler to a 13 year old boy, who I may add is the true victim here. Forget your stupid 4-wheeler, you’re a moron for even writing that. I think it’s disgusting that you would even say something like that and very twisted. What mentality???? I bet if you had a 13 year old boy, and a sex offender moved in next to you Doug, I would hope to think you cared more for him than your 4-wheeler. Your whole blog is actually laughable, and so is yours Lisa.
I’ll tell ya what, they are three kind of people in this world that I have zero tolerance for, anyone who hurts a child, an animal or the elderly because their all defenseless. Oh, and by the way Lisa, if this scumbag James Chase would not have lied to the police with a false address, this never would have happened and he’d have his right to privacy as you put it.
Councilwoman Christian may be my mom, and I applaud her EVERY action in this delicate matter. Let’s not forget people, James Chase sodomized a 13 year old boy, and Lisa you’re worried about his privacy and Doug your worried about your fricken 4-wheeler. Make sure it’s locked up……….You both need to get a grip on reality.
And just for the record, it is 210 South Swan Street, not 220.

One more thought.....to Lisa and Doug, would you let James Chase watch your children or grandchildren?

I have nothing more to say!

Raelene, As far as Lisa goes I have had my go arounds with her and her comments without really thinking, and as I predictied I didnt think it would take long for it to happen again. From what I read and took away from her comments she is once again pandering to both sides of the fence trying to please everyone.

However I must respect Doug's right to voice his opinion as well as your and your Mom's, I have nothing but respect for your Mom's involvement in the community. Besides the 420 emporium thing and this, I saw her in court the first day of the Jaquetta Simmons trial as well and the look on her face when she left said it all. I was as disgusted as she seem to unconsciously express as she left. You got to love someone who can still feel free to express herself while bein in politics as well. I agree that theft isnt as damaging or serious as the sexual predation of children or adults but I can also understand Doug's point as he isnt very likely to be the victim of that as he is likely of being stolen from.

As for his comments on theft. Well we need to conquer the popular concept of minding ones own business in a neighborhood, and the snitches get stitches mentality that people have. Get to know your neighbors, be friendly and chat with them like you do people here. The best way to protect or improve the quality of a neighborhood is to get involved. That sometimes includes being nosey when incidents happen and helping out when you can each other. Even out further from the city where your neighbor may be miles away. Can complain that your neighborhood sucks if you dont do anything but complain about it.

raelene.....i agree with you 100% on everything you stated.......these sex offenders havent earned the right to have their residence kept unknown. anyone with kids would want to know where these offenders live. they should always be known where they are living

Raelene, I think you're completely misunderstanding my point. Do you think I'm siding with the sex offender or something? I don't believe I owe anyone an apology for voicing an opinion.

If a sex offender moved in next to me and I had kids, I wouldn't want to know because all it would do is cause me anxiety. Knowing about the sex offender doesn't accomplish anything positive. What would I do differently if I knew a sex offender lived next door? Am I supposed to live in fear in my own home?

Honestly, you're blowing things way out of proportion to what was said. See what I wrote about excitable people and I'm pretty sure it applies to you. Way over the top, I say.

When the public is made aware of a sex offender's address, what positive comes of it? Do neighbors sit and watch their apartment all day and night? I've never understood telling a neighborhood that a convicted sex offender lives amongst them. All it does is get people upset. People should wake up and realize that the convicted offender isn't the one to worry about. It's the one that HASN'T been caught that is the larger threat and they're all over the place. They always have been and always will be.

When I said I'd rather know about the thieves, it's because people are much more likely to be victimized by them and not a sex offender. Raelene failed to understand the point and thinks I just don't care about kids. I don't know how she arrived at that, but she did.

My life is governed by a level head and common sense. I don't allow my emotions to get the better of me and cause me to be irrational. That doesn't mean I don't have emotions. It means I control them and they don't control me. I had to say that before Raelene attacked me for being cold and heartless.

LOL Doug I think the offenders address thing is more for the offenders. Its designed to make them feel uncomfortable in neighborhoods they dont belong in, ie family oriented type neighborhoods. Whereas certain types of neighbors and neighborhoods wouldnt care. It a rather primitative way and kinda crude way to regulate things but neighborhoods that dont want these people in their neighborhoods are the ones that are gonna take the most action to make them feel unwelcome.

Yeah Kyle, people in good neighborhoods just don't want the competition. People are the same all over. Some people just have more money :-)

Well, I'm not going to get into a pissing match with anyone. All I want to say is, to all of you that "seem" to be siding with any of these scumbags. May you NEVER.... EVER...EVER...have a child in your family molested.

What if one of those people who "seems" to be siding with with any of those scumbags, which they aren't, is a victim of being molested as a child? What if they formed their opinion based on facts and rationality? What if one of those people knows who is more likely to do the molesting, a stranger or a family member or a close friend of the family?

I even asked what positive result comes from reporting a sex offender's address and all I got was a negative vote with no calm, logical, sane explanation of why the reporting is done. I still say that all it accomplishes is angst and anxiety. If someone does care to reply, I hope they don't do so in a venomous manner. Just lay it out and explain why it's a good thing and how people are made more safe because they're told of where the offender lives.

Why not have a law that says EVERY convicted felon must place their name on a public registry revealing their address and what they were convicted of? If that ever happened, everyone would want to move somewhere else because they'd be amazed at how many felons live within a short distance of their home or apartment. I'm just trying to put things into perspective for the excitable people in our community.

Doug,
Many convicted felons never commit another crime. Many convicted felons never committed a crime against another person (drug possession). But pedophiles rarely are cured and most will commit the crime again. Knowing one has been released from prison and now lives near you and your kids is a legitimate community concern.

Pedophiles victimize kids they know such as family members or kids of people they associate with. Seldom are they able to victimize a total stranger. That would require kidnapping, etc. If it's a community concern, what does the community gain by knowing about the offender? How does knowing about the offender protect anyone?

A lot of thieves, burglars, robbers and physically violent people reoffend. Drunk drivers always seem to reoffend and I'm far more concerned about being assaulted by a drunk driver than I am about a pedophile or some 19 years old guy that got his 15 year old girlfriend pregnant....Just SAYIN!

Yes, a pedophile is a heinous POS but the chances of one randomly victimizing a child in their neighborhood is scant. They want to remain under the radar so they'll get close to a niece, a nephew, a child of someone they work with..etc. A convicted offender doesn't hang at the playground or the bus stop because the police know who they are. Again, it's the unknown offender that poses the real danger, not the convicted, monitored offender.

A scant chance is more than I'm willing to risk for my son. It sounds as if you would rather bury your head in the sand, than be aware of who your neighbors are.

Doug,

"....It's really a moot point if one does because the majority of sex offenders victimize someone they know, not a complete stranger....."

However that is not consistant with the research and is more a general assumption. What the research shows is there are two types of sexual offenders in relations to children.

Pedophilic and nonpedophilic, here is an excerpt from the Open access journal of forensic psychology.

"....There is a critical distinction between pedophilic and nonpedophilic sex offenders. These two groups differ in the characteristics of the sexual offenses and the likelihood that they will reoffend…. Pedophilic offenders are more likely to have boy victims, multiple victims, prepubescent victims, and unrelated victims. Concomitantly, nonpedophilic offenders are more likely to have only girl victims, single victims, pubescent or postpubescent victims, and related victims.....

http://www.forensicpsychologyunbound.ws/OAJFP/Witt_review_of_Seto.html

The fact is, that once someone is convicted of a crime, their claim of privacy is moot unless sealed by a court, anyone can go to a courthouse and pull court records for a small fee. The diference with sex offenders is the recidivism rate is something like 90% as opposed to thieves and most property crime offenders which is around 50%. Clearly the sex offender does pose a threat to the community in a far more likely way than would a property crime offender.

All that said, should a convicted pedophile be allowed to live anywhere adter they have served their time, yes, they have that right. Is a listing of address of convicted sex offenders be publically available, I say yes, because they pose a risk to society as a whole.

Doug, you posed the question:

When the public is made aware of a sex offender's address, what positive comes of it?
Your own words are part of my answer:

"Pedophiles victimize kids they know such as family members or kids of people they associate with. Seldom are they able to victimize a total stranger."

The one important word not on your list of "kids they know" is...neighbor.

When my children were small, we were very close with our neighbors. We would picnic and vacation together, babysit for each other, host sleepovers, etc. In other words, we would get to know and trust our neighbors. It's what good neighbors do.

Knowing that a sex offender lives in your neighborhood, gives parents important information they can use to determine how far to extend the good neighbor policy.

I don't know a single parent or grandparent that would knowingly entrust a pedophile to befriend or care for their child.

To use your words again:
"They want to remain under the radar so they'll get close to a niece, a nephew, a child of someone they work with..etc."

For parents, this law keeps pedophiles above the radar...where they belong.

JoAnne, Clearly yours was the best response on this issue that I have read so far. I could not agree more.

Finally, a logical answer. Thank you, JoAnne.

That doesn't even make any sense, Bud. I've got a little one coming in January and I'm pretty sure I've got bases covered. Ostriches have a swift and mighty kick when angered.

First, congrats on the new baby.
Second, ostriches kick only if aware they are being angered. With no registry, you have to rely on self reporting, and that won't happen.

http://appellatesquawk.wordpress.com/but-seriously-folks-sora-is-punish…