Nearly two-dozen sex offenders living near UW sororities
 

http://www.komotv.com/news/10326767.html

This is some scary shit!

Nearly two-dozen sex offenders living near UW sororities


Story Updated: Oct 8, 2007 at 6:48 PM PDT
By KOMO Staff
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SEATTLE - The University of Washington recently found out just how many sex offenders live near students, with some living just blocks from sorority houses.

Some students who live in the U-District north of 45th Avenue checked and found nearly two-dozen registered sex offenders -- some of them level 3 -- live in the area.

"It's a little weird, but they have to live somewhere I guess," said student Eileen Moreland. "Better here than next to an elementary school, I suppose."

The registered sex offenders in question live in five houses run by the same landlord who has an agreement with the Department of Corrections.

Moreland said she had no idea the sex offenders were in the area until her friends told her.

"Well maybe at least send us letters and let us know they're in this area," Moreland said. "I heard by rumor, but no one has ever contacted or let us know so it'd be nice to hear from the school."

University officials say they will contact parents and students very shortly to let them know where the sex offenders are.

As to why they're just being notified now?

"We just recently found out of their presence," said Eric Godfrey, the Vice Provost for Student Life at the UW. He added it was possible to notify students sooner, but they wanted to take time to get a clear fix of what was happening.

"Bottom line, we think our students should be aware of this presence as should their parents and we will be reaching out to notify them very soon," Godfrey said.

Godfrey says university officials went as far as the governor's mansion to get 13 sex offenders removed from the area. And Governor Christine Gregoire has since ordered the DOC not to refer registered sex offenders to those houses anymore.

In the meantime, you can search the King County Sheriff's sex offender database Web site to see where registered sex offenders live. You'll find the site at www.metrokc.gov

That is just creepy.

If we are talking pedophiles, any girl over 11 should be pretty safe.

This is how Washington State defines sex offenders. It doesn't specify what crimes were committed, just the likelihood that they will re offend.

http://ml.waspc.org/FAQ.aspx#Level3

What is the definition of a Level III sex offender? These offenders pose a potential high risk to the community and are a threat to re-offend if provided the opportunity. Most have prior sex crime convictions as well as other criminal convictions. Their lifestyles and choices place them in this classification. Some have predatory characteristics and may seek out victims. They may have refused or failed to complete approved treatment programs.
What is the definition of a Level II sex offender? These offenders present a moderate risk to the community and they have a higher likelihood of re-offending than the Level 1 offenders. They are considered a higher risk to re-offend, because of the nature of their previous crime(s) and lifestyle (drug and alcohol abuse and other criminal activity). Some have refused to participate or failed to complete approved treatment programs.

What is the definition of a Level I sex offender? These offenders present the lowest possible risk to the community and their likelihood to re-offend is considered minimal. They normally have not exhibited predatory type characteristics and most have successfully participated or are participating in approved treatment programs. Many are first time offenders.

I'd be freaked out too, but I have to ask: where are we going to let sex offenders live?

Nobody is going to want them.

I think that publicizing the general area of where they live and adding security at the sorority houses are the ways to go immediately.

But do you really want them to relocate to neighborhoods with a lot of kids or a lot of elderly people? Do you just think they should have to live among public housing complexes, giving the residents another kind of criminal to fear? Everything is problematic about this issue.

I think Level III offenders should still be in jail (maybe level II too)

Ahh thanks. When these megan's law type things were first proposed i believe they were supposed to be geared towards level 3 pedophiles .. . . So i tend to think of anyone on the list as a level 3 pedophile.

Honestly, I'm going to take a different stance here, and say that I think it is wrong that the University of Washington is ousting these people from their homes. One man who was interviewed was using a cane to walk, and was clearly a senior citizen. He paid his debt to society with 15 years in prison. I do not think that asking this man to leave his home for a crime that he's already been punished for is good form at all. The community that these people live in act as a support group, and they go to counceling. This "preventitive" method of "peace keeping" has got to stop.

the scary thing is that a large percentage of registered so's move all the time and don't report their new address.

local news shows do bits about that all the time -- pulling up a list of names/addresses and then physically going there to find abandoned houses, etc.

Just because they have done their time of punishment, doesn't mean they are rehabilitated. Have you ever looked at a sex offender list? There are some people on there that are in their 80s! It's disgusting.

But there are also people who are on there for peeing in public, which I think is ridiculous.

Don't sex offenders also include people who have commited those crimes to adult women?

I don't know if there is a seperate classification for those crimes/offenders though.

"Sex Offenders" includes people - men and women - who have committed sexually-based crimes against men or women, children or adults. It does not matter whether they assaulted a grown up woman or a 5-year-old boy, they must register as a sex offender.

The state actually provides an online database so people can look up their address and get a photo and physical description of offenders living close by, as well as the crime (just the charge) that got them on the list. If it's rape of a child, it will say that, or if it's just a rape charge, it will say that. It doesn't say whether the victim was male or female, which I believe is an important piece of information. http://ml.waspc.org/index.aspx

As far as the sorority houses go - security needs to be top-notch, whether or not they know a sex offender is living nearby. You don't want to be in the position of wishing you had had better security because something happened. The good that can come out of this article is a heightened sense of awareness on the part of the sorority members and house corps. Alas, you can never let your guard down in our society.

It also includes statutory rape cases... so those teachers that had affairs with a student, also have to register as a sex offender. The category includes so many different offenses, yet people lump the whole category together as pedophiles and sexual predators. Just playing Devil's advocate...

Thank you. I've been "assaulted" by a flasher in a public park, and it was no fun, but there's a world of difference between a flasher and someone who's tried to kidnap kids or raped an adult. It's crazy to brand someone for life and expel them from neighborhoods for committing that kind of crime.
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DiamondKitten

Total agreement. There are a lot more crimes other than sex crimes.

However, I've yet to see any evidence of even one sex offender who has been completely rehabilitated. If anyone has some, I'd surely like to see it.