A former Ohio sex offender now lives two blocks from a public school and around the corner from a Catholic school, says the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Although he is violating a court order to stay more than 1,000 feet from a school, police have no power to force him to move. A new law awaiting the governor’s signature would give prosecutors the right to evict sexual predators who violate the 1,000-foot rule.
Many law enforcement officials say the law still isn’t tough enough. Says Deputy Keith Rohrbaugh of Lake County: “We were hoping to get a felony classification for violators. Then, if someone violated the no-school rule we could arrest them. We now have offenders that thumb their noses at us when we tell them they have to move.” Sex offenders who move frequently make such notification complicated. More serious predators and repeat offenders must register every three months for either 10 years or life, depending upon the seriousness of their crime. That task becomes more burdensome on a statewide level, with nearly 12,000 registered offenders in Ohio.
Link: http://www.cleveland.com/ohio/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/110526680978510.xml