New York Post/Brian Hamacher
Advocates and a Queens councilman said yesterday that city agencies should do monthly sweeps ofpublic housing to ferret out sex offenders living under the radar and notify residents when theyevict one. Over 200 registered sex offenders were illegally living in public housing units, givingthem easy access to kids and vulnerable families.
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Babylon town officials recently started using a mapping system to enforce a county residency restriction law and promptly discovered the vast majority of offenders in town are living closer than allowed by law to places where children congregate. Of the town’s 56 Level 2 and 3 sex offenders, or moderate and high-risk offenders, the mapping system shows 41 live within a quarter-mile of such places as schools, playgrounds, date care centers and parks. All but one of those offenders had moved into their residences before June, when the legislation was
Ten years ago state sex offender registries were established to allow residents to locate sex offenders in the neighborhoods. But some experts worry the registries also allow those who loathe the presence of sex offenders to take matters into their own hands. In May, two registered sex offenders in a rural Main community were shot and killed by a 20 year old man who used the state’s online registry to track them. In 2005, a man in Washington state shot and killed two Level 3 sex offenders after locating their
Newsday/Jennifer Maloney
Concerned residents in Coram and Gordon Heights, after revelations about a cluster of sexoffenders, called Brookhaven Town and Suffolk County’s Department of Social Services yesterday toend the practice. This also gave renewed hope to local and state legislators that bills regardingsex offender housing might gain passage this fall. Suffolk Legislator Kate Browning (WFP-Shirley)called for passage of legislation she introduced last week that would ban county agencies providingservices to sex offenders from putting more than one offender in the same house. State Assemb.Patricia Eddington (D-Medford) pushed for legislation she introduced
On the shaded streets of Coram and Gordon Heights, 39 convicted sex offenders live within a half-square-mile area. Fifteen reside on one block alone, and 11 properties house multiple offenders. Of the 39 offenders, the state designates 17 as Level 3, the most dangerous classification and the category law enforcement regards as most likely to commit new crimes. One sodomized three boys younger than 8. Another abused two girls, 4 and 6. The remaining offenders are Level 2 and were convicted of such crimes as the rape of a 14
Landlord Charlie Manolakos had a vacant house on Eleanor Avenue in Mastic when an agency that works with the Suffolk County Department of Social Services asked him in June to take in four Level 3 sex offenders who needed housing. According to experts, a new county residency restriction law prohibiting sex offenders from living within a quarter-mile of places where children congregate makes it difficult for many offenders to find suitable housing. Because of these laws, you’re forcing housing in more rural or suburban areas and Mastic happens to be