For sex crimes committed in the 1980s, Scott Ziegler of Wisconsin must report to police where he is living for the rest of his life. Nothing about his status as enrollee for life on the state’s sex offender registry prevented Ziegler from opening a pornography and drug paraphernalia store – called Twisted – that became a magnet for teenagers in Waukesha, Wi., says the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Authorities filed 14 felony charges against Ziegler, accusing him of luring the teenagers into a life of sexual abuse and drug use.
The state legislator who wrote Wisconsin’s sex offender disclosure laws said Ziegler’s case points to a gap in the law. “If sex offenders are setting themselves up in a sleaze-trade business, it’s a loophole that we should check into,” said state Sen. Alberta Darling. “The question is: Is it unconstitutional to require a criminal who has served their time to report their profession?” A police officer said the large marijuana leaf painted on the picture window of Ziegler’s now-shut downtown store baited gullible teenagers into Twisted and later to his home, where, a criminal complaint alleges, teenagers engaged in sex and drugs with Ziegler. When police confronted Ziegler near his home, they found with him a 14-year-old girl wearing a dog collar and leash. The girl told police she was allowed to stay there and given alcohol and drugs in exchange for sex.