If you have read this site before, you know that I am not a huge fan of laws that are written quickly. They tend to lead open the Pandora’s Box of the Law of Unintended Consequences.
That is what is happening now in Florida and probably soon across the country with sex offenders. States and municipalities across the country have enacted strict laws keeping sex offenders living near churches, schools, and places where children can congregate. This seems intelligent on the surface and makes politicians look great, but a fatal flaw has arisen.
The restrictions on where sex offenders have become so strict that these sex offenders are clustering together. There are only small pockets in the communtities where they can live. A fellow sex offender, Randy Young, is capitalizing on this and has become a landlord to sex offenders. He has learned the laws in the state and has scouted out properties where these sex offenders can live legally and is renting them out to the criminals as they leave prison.
So instead of the sex offenders being spread out and relatively benign and isolated, we are seeing clusters of sex offender communities where these folks can discuss their techniques and illness.
And as word of the concept spreads we should expect to see this pattern emerge nationwide. Horrifying as it sounds, do not be surprised if one of the next horror stories we hear on the shock news shows is about one of these clusters.
Registered himself, Young owns seven Central Florida properties and manages two dozen more that he rents to offenders. His enterprise is known as “Habitat for Sex Offenders.”
“When I first got out and tried to find a place to live, it was very difficult,” Young said, describing his properties as safe havens. “The first day you get out is scary. You don’t know what’s going to happen to you.”
Florida law requires a 1,000-foot buffer between registered sex offenders and schools, day-care centers, parks, churches or libraries. Finding that kind of location — as well as a willing landlord — can be tricky. via FLORIDA TODAY.
For those who are at risk for repeat offenses need to be kept together in a halfway house, we let too many of these monsters go when we know that they are just going to break the law and hurt someone again.
-Tyler
[...] Real Estate Man Is LandlordFor Sex Offenders In Florida : The Real Estate Bloggers "A fellow sex offender, Randy Young, is capitalizing on this and has become a landlord to sex [...]
Thats a very disturbing concept!
That is quite crazy. That's why I rather don't do landlording on my own properties – I am actually rather using a professional property manager, so I don't even meet my tenants in person usually. Sometimes it's worth the extra money spent.
Well, I think that this flaw is really serious which can cause sex offenders to be separate from society but cluster together. There must be laws for landlords like Randy Young who are providing a platform for such people to cluster together and be more organized. This issue must be addressed by higher authorities as soon as possible.
Our laws about what constitutes a sex offense are far too broad, we Americans are so fearful of our children being molested that ANY mention of a sex offense brings up the worst of behavior to mind. What about most registered sex offenders- who are not rapists or molesters? These are the ONLY crimes that are not considered debt to society paid once a sentence is served. Where are these people supposed to live? How can they become useful members of society again, if they are not allowed to live in society, if they must worry over WHERE to house their families?