NBC 4 Investigates: Sex Offenders Living Near Bus Stops?
WESTERVILLE, Ohio—It’s a state law that sex offenders cannot live within 1,000 feet of a school—but what about school bus stops?
A concerned NBC 4 viewer wanted to know if a bus stop in Westerville could be moved, saying, “We recently had a registered sexual offender move into the neighborhood. Although he is outside the limit for schools, the middle school bus stop is right across the street from his house.“
NBC 4‘s Candice Lee investigated and found that Westerville City Schools takes student safety seriously, regularly getting sex offender updates from the Franklin County sheriff and Westerville police.
“Once we have the information, we look at moving stops or working with individuals that have a stop there to find a stop that’s suitable for everybody,“ said Westerville City Schools spokesman Mark Hershiser.
In some situations, the school system has yet to receive notification that the offender has moved into the district. That was the case in the viewer’s complaint.
Once school officials have that information or receive a call from an area resident or concerned parent, the district investigates.
The district checks the online sex offender registry and if nothing is found, they call the Franklin County sheriff’s office for verification.
Hershiser said that once the information is confirmed, a bus stop can be changed in a day or two.
NBC 4 checked other school districts to see if they had similar policies.
Officials with Columbus, Dublin, Reynoldsburg and Gahanna City schools said they would check with transportation officials for an answer on their policies.
South-Western City Schools officials said they make every effort to change bus stops when parents voice concerns.
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Reader Reactions
This is getting crazy. Why not take a old project community rehab it and only move registered sex offenders to this community, since the law and people treat them like lepers.
A true christian will have compassion and show love to all people. Should’nt reformed sex offenders be shown love and compassion?
Those of you that post, with a name that is even threatening, are weakening your laws. Those who advocate the death penalty haven’t thought through their position. Do you think daughter is going to point finger at daddy so State can execute? Or would you rather have daddy go scott free? Don’t you think it would be better to heal rather than to destroy? Because it is thieves and liars that are advocating that “sex offenders” can’t live within a bus stop or a 1,000 feet from some area(didn’t you know nobody has a halo?), those people, in order for the law to be legal,those people, (the thieves and liars) must make a list of all of their digressions in life and submit that list to a local sex offender. When that sex offender has received that list and it has been certified as true and just, then the sex offenders have to move. Then we shall find out who the real “dirty” people are, eh?
Residency laws don’t work Georgia has bus stop laws and have been embroiled in legal battles for year. Iowa is trying to undo their laws because it drove registrants to homelessness or not registering altogether. Kansas passed a moratorium against them because they don’t work. Here’s a good fact guide on the subject:
http://www.oncefallen.com/ResidenceRestrictionsFacts.html
And I’d love to know where Bodie gets his stats from, because recidivism studies quote less than a tenth of the rates he is claiming. As far as opposition to these laws, they are growing, and people don’t have to be a registrant or a loved one of a registrant to see how ludicrous these laws are getting. Maybe that’s why many states are rejecting the Walsh Act wholesale. Too bad Ohio legislators aren’t that smart.
Oddly there were just as many child molesters in the 60’s & 70’s as there are now. Many were and still are family members or persons familiar to the child not strangers at all. Many of those convicted of sex crimes committed those crimes within a family or with a child they had become “familiar” with not a child they had taken off the street at random. The age of rapid communications where news travels immeditely makes us aware of these sex offenders at the instant someone can type information into a computer.
Used to be and thankfully it still isn’t a sex offender could live right next door and you would never know it until they reoffended.
I suppose we could take a deserted island and ship them all there and when it’s full just blow it up.
And of course there are those whpo have been “convicted” of a sex crime against a child who were later (too often in excess of twenty years) found innocent.
On MSNBC the documentary “Witchhunt” (narrated by Sean Penn) about the mid 1980’s California scandel, in which innocent parents were railroaded into prison with sentences well over one hundred years.
As usual in regard to this subject, there is an excess of emotion and a dearth of reason. RSOhunter says: “We must create legislation that will force sex offenders to move out of our neighborhoods where kids hang out.“ Where is that neighborhood? It does not exist. Either these people have been cleared to live in the general population - and so should be treated like anyone else - or they should be kept in prison. To release them and then treat them this way, as if they are loaded guns waiting to go off, is neither fair nor reasonable. And remember, before acting like every one of them is a monster, many - perhaps most - of them have been branded “sex offender” for such “crimes” as having had sex with a 15-year-old when they were 19.
The problem is that there are so many sexual perverts who want to harm your children that we can’t just move bus stops willy nilly. We must create legislation that will force sex offenders to move out of our neighborhoods where kids hang out. Contact your legislator and see what he or she can do. They have the power to force registered sex offenders to live a minimum of, say, 1,000 feet from any bus stop. It should be THEY who has to move, NOT our children’s bus stop!!
Sounds like rudy101 is either A) a Sex Offender themself or B) Has a Family Member or A Relationshop with one.
Which is it ???????????????????????
You won’t find too many other then sex offenders or “friends” of sex offenders that oppose tough laws. I for ONE support a FEDERAL DEATH PENALTY for anyone who committs a sex offense against a child.
Reoffending is a way of life for 99.97% of these perverts. The fact support this and each time they may get more aggressive and advance to killing their victims to in their sick minds avoid prison AGAIN.
I don’t buy that Southwestern City Schools do anything about moving bus stops since a registered sex offender lives on Basswood Avenue in Grove City 25 feet from a bus stop and has been there over maybe 2 years now.
Rudy101, I agree with you and it’s lovely to find a post written by an intelligent person who is able to state his point of view. The issue I have with the sex offender legislation is that either these people should be seen to have done their time and paid for their crimes (and be subject to the same laws that apply to other ex-offenders), or we should decide that they will always re-offend and lock them up somewhere forever. As it is, we treat these people abominably, in a way that never lets them reassimilate, when they have served their time for the crimes they commit.
The issue of bus stop locations is obviously spurious. Is the city supposed to keep moving bus stops when a registered ex-offender moves into the neighborhood? How far from a former offender should the bus stop be? Is there anything to prevent the ex-offender from standing at the bus stop himself? What about all the other situations in which the former offender might come into contact with children? Are we going to move shopping centers, post offices, restaurants? This paranoia has clearly gotten out of control, and I’m appalled that anyone takes the bus stop complaint seriously.
The question is what kind of nation we want to be. Do we really want to be a nation where some people actually advocate killing former sex offenders, or anyone who has done their time and paid their debt to society? I sure hope we don’t.
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