Something we should not have to think about....but we do....

[stormchazer]

This is somewhat Hurricane related, but Mods move this by all means if you think it should be. As a parent I hate that I have to think about this!

This sheriff wants separate hurricane shelter for sex offenders



By Gary Taylor
Orlando Sentinel

June 3, 2005, 8:56 AM EDT

SANFORD -- Sex offenders and predators are the scourge of nearly every community. Homeowners are taking to the streets protesting them as neighbors. Entire cities, outraged by the high-profile killings of two Florida girls, are trying to ban them.

Now, Seminole County wants to make sure they also cannot get into public shelters if another hurricane threatens the region.

Sheriff Don Eslinger says he wants to pack offenders into a hurricane shelter strictly for sex criminals.

He is ready to provide the facility -- a spot next to Seminole County Jail -- and help staff it.

It would be the first shelter of its kind in Central Florida, according to Robby Cunningham, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, which is responsible for registering and supervising sex offenders.

Until now, DOC has handled evacuations on a case-by-case basis.

"Each case varies," Cunningham said.

"There are certain places they have to go," such as to a correctional facility or to stay with relatives. "They are not allowed to go to [public] shelters," he said.

But they sometimes do.

Last year, at least two sex offenders who evacuated their homes went to Lyman High School, one of several schools in the county designated as public shelters. One was there for all three hurricanes that hit Central Florida; the other sought shelter for Hurricane Frances.

The two were sent to Lyman by their probation officers.

Most of Seminole's 211 registered sex offenders and predators have a detailed plan for where they should go in an evacuation.

However, 41, including the two who were housed at Lyman, do not have a specified plan.

Those are the offenders Eslinger said he is targeting.

"It posed a logistical nightmare," said Longwood police investigator Herb Stewartson, one of the officers assigned to keep the men away from children and families at the shelter.

Although both sex offenders used the shelter for Hurricane Frances, they could not be housed together because one brought his wife and children, Stewartson said.

The offenders were confined in separate rooms, apart from each other and other people at the shelter, he said.

Officers had to escort them to get their meals or arrange to have the food taken to them.

The men were allowed to take showers only after everyone else in the shelter was done.

Many of the hundreds of evacuees at the shelter had no idea why the two men had individual rooms while everyone else had to cram into the same area, Stewartson said.

The situation was quietly explained to those who complained and to shelter officials, but it was not widely broadcast.

"It was a stressful time," Stewartson said.

Eslinger's plan is only for sex offenders who live in Seminole County.

He said he would use the agency's Work Release Center, which is on the campus of the Seminole County Jail in south Sanford.

It has 50 beds -- more than enough to house the nine registered sex predators and 32 sex offenders who are known to live in Seminole and don't have an approved evacuation plan.

After hearing of Eslinger's plan Thursday, Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson may follow Seminole's lead, said spokesman Gary Davidson. "He [Johnson] thought it was a great idea."

An Orange County sheriff's spokeswoman said she was unaware of any such plans in that county.

Should the state accept Seminole's offer to house the offenders, Eslinger said, deputy sheriffs would be sent to the home of each known offender who doesn't report to the shelter.

Unless they are home or in another approved location, they would face arrest for violating terms of their probation.

It is not clear who would pay for the additional shelter and monitoring. Eslinger said those details haven't been worked out.

Cunningham of the DOC said the agency is seriously considering the sheriff's proposal.

"We're talking to him right now," he said.

Gary Taylor can be reached at gtaylor@orlandosentinel.com or 407-772-8040.
Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

[southerngale]

It has 50 beds -- more than enough to house the nine registered sex predators and 32 sex offenders who are known to live in Seminole and don't have an approved evacuation plan.

Just put them all in jail and throw away the key. Problem solved.

[Anonymous]

It has 50 beds -- more than enough to house the nine registered sex predators and 32 sex offenders who are known to live in Seminole and don't have an approved evacuation plan.

Just put them all in jail and throw away the key. Problem solved.

Agreed Southerngale!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Agreed.

[dhweather]

It has 50 beds -- more than enough to house the nine registered sex predators and 32 sex offenders who are known to live in Seminole and don't have an approved evacuation plan.

Just put them all in jail and throw away the key. Problem solved.

I'm all for that solution!!

[Radar]

We can plan for the convicted sex offenders but how about the sex offenders we dont know about? That is what really scares me. How about the men and women who are sex offenders who so far have been getting away with it. They are the ones that live in society without a Scarlet letter on their chest ready to strike at any time. We can put convicted sex offenders in their own shelters but that might not make the other shelters sex offender free. Any time your children are around people you dont know be 'EXTRA' vigilant. I'm afraid that by doing this the only drawback would be that the message to the kids and parents in the shelter is "your safe from sex offenders" when that might not be the case at all!

[drudd1]

We can plan for the convicted sex offenders but how about the sex offenders we don't know about? That is what really scares me. How about the men and women who are sex offenders who so far have been getting away with it. They are the ones that live in society without a Scarlet letter on their chest ready to strike at any time. We can put convicted sex offenders in their own shelters but that might not make the other shelters sex offender free. Any time your children are around people you don't know be 'EXTRA' vigilant. I'm afraid that by doing this the only drawback would be that the message to the kids and parents in the shelter is "your safe from sex offenders" when that might not be the case at all!

While I definitely see your point, you can only do what you can do. The unknown is just that, the unknown. We address what we know is a threat, i.e. the convicted sex offenders, and watch our children like hawks to prevent harm from those unknown. Being a parent, I think it would be inconceivable that another parent would believe their children are perfectly safe because some perverts have been busted. That is like believing that robbery, rape, etc. will stop because some of the jerks are in jail.

I have always said that if you want this to stop, start turning over the convicted sex offenders to the families of the victims. While some will still do it the first time, I guarantee they won't do it the second. At least not if my family were handing out the justice. To harm a child in that way has got to be the most heinous crime imaginable.

[cyclonaut]

Why can't we just round these sickos up in the wee hours of the night,take them out to the middle of the desert or swamp &...well you can think of your own ways to handle it.

Lets just say there will be no need for shelters.

[Radar]

How true Drudd and Cyclonut if we could take the law into our own hands and serve justice the way we saw fit it would probably be a better deterent to sex offenders. But since we can not, here we go providing shelter to them to try to keep them away from our children and other vunerable citizens. Wouldnt it be a gratifying thing to say to them when a hurricane is knocking on the door to their city. "Look jerk, you're not worthy of anything we have. Just like you thought that child you molested wasnt worthy of their innocence and self esteem. You're on your own pal" Now that would be some kind of justice.... An eye for a hurricane eye!!!

[jabber]

My plan would be a bit more drastic.

It has 50 beds -- more than enough to house the nine registered sex predators and 32 sex offenders who are known to live in Seminole and don't have an approved evacuation plan.

Just put them all in jail and throw away the key. Problem solved.

[george_r_1961]

The sex offenders should have their own community where they cant hurt anyone. Most folks call this type of community "prison".