THE MOLESTER NEXT DOOR (His life among neighbors who abhor him)

Xavier Morris, a 22 year old newlywed and first-time father, lives in a Sound Beach community decked out for Halloween trick-or-treaters, where kids used to ride bikes and shoot hoops in driveways, where children now play inside and the narrow roads of the wooded enclave of Scott's Beach are empty.  Residents there say he should leave.  Morris is a level 3 sex offender who admits he sexually abused three young relatives when he was a teenager, but only after he himself was damaged by years of sexual abuse.  He says he just wants a normal live.  He said when previous neighbors in Mastic Beach, Shirley and Selden found out who he was, they slashed his tires, fired shots at his house and chased him out of a store with baseball bats.  He was notified that he's being evicted for the fourth time since he was released from prison in September 2003.  Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law, a child advocacy organization, said confronting Morris is completely unacceptable.  Megan's Law information does not give a community the right to harass an offender, but only to take necessary precautions and stay away, she said.  That kind of behavior serves only to undermine the hard work that we've been doing for years.  Morris said he regrets the harm he did to two younger female relatives, then aged 7 and 9, by abusing them when he was 17, and to another he molested when he was younger.  He said he suffers from constant anxiety, and showers several times a day because he feels dirty.  Married in May, Morris can spend time with his son only when his wife is present.

(New York)