Citizens of Montville, Conn., say they are nervous as the state prepares to open its first halfway house specifically for sex offenders in January on the grounds of the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center there, reports the Hartford Courant. “It’s not just treatment; it’s keeping an eye on them,” said state Rep. Mike Lawlor, judiciary committee leader and a former state prosecutor. “It’s a way you can avoid just giving the guy a pair of jeans and a bus ticket and saying, ‘Good luck.'”
The Montville town council recently passed an ordinance prohibiting sex offenders from stepping foot on any town-owned or -leased land, including parks, playgrounds, sports fields and public school grounds. The new ordinance and the soon-to-open treatment facility have made this small town in eastern Connecticut a testing ground for the competing goals of red-zoning sex felons and reintegrating them into society.