Of the 74 registered offenders listed in the one zip code near Louisville, 29 live at one apartment complex, says the Louisville Courier-Journal. Two others live on streets just a few blocks away. With Kentucky placing more restrictions on where sex offenders can live, clusters of offenders are becoming more common in Louisville’s Jefferson County, which more than 1,000 registered offenders call home. Lawrence Pilcher, a registered sex offender who was convicted in 1994 for crimes against his stepdaughter, has lived at the apartment complex for about five years, helping manage the properties and acting as a supervisor to keep the offenders who live there in check
“The law is pushing sex offenders into certain locations [ ] if they can’t live by a church, school or playground, then there are only certain areas within that county or city where they can live,” said Trooper John Hawkins, a state police spokesman. Maia Christopher of the Oregon-based Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, said it isn’t surprising to find such clusters. Some happen by accident, but many occur because offenders are made aware by probation and parole officers where they can live in a certain area. Kentucky law says offenders who committed crimes after July 2006 must live at least 1,000 feet, or less than a quarter of a mile, away from a school, publicly owned playground, or day care center.