Sex offender in legal limbo over residency

6-27-15 Pennsylvania:

LEWISBURG — Can a man’s parole be revoked if he’s never been out from behind bars? That’s the question in the case of Samuel Grove, a Lewisburg man and convicted sex offender who, despite being in a parole phase remains in jail — 13 years and counting — because he has nowhere to go.

It also points to the problem of after-jail housing for sex offenders, whose freedom relies on restrictions for where they can live and whose histories make them unwelcome just about everywhere.

On Friday in Union County Court, Judge Michael Sholley continued the case for Grove, 43, of Lewisburg, who was sentenced in 2003 four to eight years in prison for sexual assaulting four young men in Union County in 2002.

Grove was in court Friday for a parole revocation hearing, having been transferred last month to Union County Prison after he maxed out his time in the state system. Aside of three days of release after Grove served his eight-year maximum, he hasn’t been free.

New bill would remove sex offenders from group homes

Do all lawmakers have a brain the size of a pea? Here we see a bill supposedly to protect folks in group homes, there because of a physical or mental need, displacing folks who have the same need but are on a registry for a former sex offense many years ago. OK, now what do these pea brained lawmakers do with the folks their bill displaced? These are still citizens with a Americans with Disability Act need, who could use that Act to sue the state for discrimination.

3-17-15 New York:

It was a story that left a lot of people outraged. In one of our exclusive New York State Exposed segments, we told you about the state moving sex offenders into group homes right in the middle of neighborhoods.

Now, if passed, a new bill would ban sex offenders from being housed along with people with developmental disabilities; people lawmakers say are the most vulnerable in our society.

On Monday, we followed up with the Cades who live right near a group home on North Road. We checked. There is still a registered sex offender living there. The Cades feel some relief hearing about the senate bill, but they say they won’t rest until this bill becomes law, and they get some new neighbors.

“You never know, if you’re walking in your yard or on the street just going for a walk, who you’re going to run into,” said Beth Cade, lives next to group home.

Ramsey County cuts support for sex offender day-treatment center

11-18-2014 Minnesota:

Dane Jorento does the kind of job most people would pay to avoid. For the past nine years, he's been the director of ABC Mental Health Therapy, an East Side day-treatment center that works with sex offenders who suffer from traumatic brain injury, developmental delays, autism and various forms of mental illness.

The nonprofit clinic is one of three agencies in the metro area that offer group therapy to low-IQ sex offenders. They range from peeping Toms to convicted rapists. Of the three agencies, only ABC is targeted to low-income clients.

And within weeks, ABC may close its doors.

Ramsey County made the decision last year to discontinue its two day-treatment therapy contracts by Dec. 31, although the county has offered ABC an extension through March 31, 2015.

"The day treatment services ABC provides are no longer in alignment with the state and county direction towards individualized treatment plans and contemporary evidence-based practices," said John Siqveland, a spokesman for Ramsey County.

Bill to allow sex offenders to be admitted into residential facilities

9-27-2014 Ohio:

Ohio General Assembly is on recess until the week after November’s general election.

A state representative from Summit County has introduced a bill that would allow sex offenders to be admitted into residential facilities designed for those with developmental disabilities, clearing up what the law maker calls a “black hole.”

State and county developmental disability agencies aren’t yet familiar enough with this bill to know how it could affect how business is done at residential facilities.

Rep. Anthony DeVitis, R-Green, submitted House Bill 621 to the Ohio House, on Sept. 16, which is in response to an issue that happened at a residential facility in Tallmadge, Ohio. Residents in the Akron suburb were upset last year when sex offenders living were at a developmental disabilities residential facility, and “that didn’t set well in the communities because they were sex offenders,” he said.

That particular issue was resolved, but prompted a need for state protocols to be established. After DeVitis said he didn’t receive or hear from the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities any protocols, he said he introduced the bill last week.

Bill would help establish rules for sex in group homes

3-24-2011 Florida:

State senators proposed reforms Wednesday to how developmentally disabled sex offenders are housed and want a task force of experts to recommend new guidelines for sex in group homes.

The changes are part of Senate Bill 2062, proposed by the Senate Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs on Wednesday. They grow out of issues reported at a Seffner group home for developmentally disabled men where residents, including sex offenders, were permitted to have sex with one another even though some men lacked the ability to consent.

"Many issues have been brought to light through these shocking events," said Sen. Ronda Storms, who chairs the committee, "and I strongly believe it is the state's obligation … to ensure better environments."

According to a St. Petersburg Times story, staffers at the Human Development Center group home viewed sex between peers as part of a therapeutic program. A state disabilities official told senators last month that the group home matched up sexual partners.

Reports also documented one encounter in 2005 that the staff characterized as rape. But that case did not cause the home to curtail a program the men knew as "quiet time," during which sanctioned sexual contact occurred.

In 2008, Storms, R-Valrico, called for an investigation that stopped "quiet time" and state officials promised to tackle the issue of sexual activity in group homes. After a Times story in December revealed that the pledge and other changes hadn't been implemented, Storms convened Senate hearings last month to address the lingering issues.

One resident, upset about sexual activity in the group home, for instance, had been trying to move to another group home, but a judge's order kept him tied to the Human Development Center for years. The proposed bill would give the Agency for Persons with Disabilities more freedom to move these clients by barring judges from sending sex offenders to a particular home.

The bill would also give developmentally disabled sex offenders and their guardians more choices on where to live by making the agency create or license more group homes. Now, just a handful of state-licensed group homes, including the Human Development Center, accept men accused of sex crimes.

"Guardians of developmentally disabled deserve a choice in placement, even those who are sexual offenders," Storms said. "In some cases, there is only one provider in the entire state … and that … should not be allowed."

The bill also calls for a task force that would include officials from the state agency, Department of Children and Families, courts, prosecutors, public defenders, university experts and disabled advocacy groups to draw up policies to address sexual activity in group homes. The task force would present a report by Nov. 1.

Jim DeBeaugrine, a former director of the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, supported the bill.

"Most people with developmental disabilities are adults with full civil rights, and they do have the right to engage in lawful sexual activity. So it is a real tricky subject and one that's uncomfortable for a lot of people," he said.

The Agency for Persons with Disabilities declined to comment because it was analyzing the bill. ..Source.. by Justin George