TO 'KEEP OUR CHILDREN SAFE' (Landmark ruling bans more than two sex offenders from living in a single-family home in Brookhaven)
Newsday/Patrick Whittle
Brookhaven Town enacted a landmark measure yesterday that makes it illegal for more than two registered sex offenders to live in the same single-family home. The ordinance, which town officials and child protection advocates have said is the first of its kind in the state, is designed to break up clusters of sex offenders, such as the one in the Homestead Drive area of Gordon Heights. According to a state registry Web site, more than 40 registered sex criminals live in that roughly half-square-mile area. Just before the vote, Councilwoman Kathleen Walsh, who proposed the measure, said she was confident the town had created "something enforceable" that will "create an environment where we can keep our children safe." Parents for Megan's Law representatives have said the ordinance would be the state's first "saturation statute." Laura Ahearn, the group's head, has said offenders will still need greater supervision and help finding jobs to reform. Town Supervisor Brian X. Foley said the clustering issue will eventually require a change in state law.
(New York)
Brookhaven Town enacted a landmark measure yesterday that makes it illegal for more than two registered sex offenders to live in the same single-family home. The ordinance, which town officials and child protection advocates have said is the first of its kind in the state, is designed to break up clusters of sex offenders, such as the one in the Homestead Drive area of Gordon Heights. According to a state registry Web site, more than 40 registered sex criminals live in that roughly half-square-mile area. Just before the vote, Councilwoman Kathleen Walsh, who proposed the measure, said she was confident the town had created "something enforceable" that will "create an environment where we can keep our children safe." Parents for Megan's Law representatives have said the ordinance would be the state's first "saturation statute." Laura Ahearn, the group's head, has said offenders will still need greater supervision and help finding jobs to reform. Town Supervisor Brian X. Foley said the clustering issue will eventually require a change in state law.
(New York)
Submitted on: 8/6/08