Error on registry leads to vandalism on Halloween
A Washington County man claims his home was mistakenly vandalized because of an error on the sex offender registry.
The vandals targeted his home on Halloween night and left about $10,000 in damage. They spray-painted “child rapist” on his garage and “unforgivable” on his driveway, covered his Ring camera and threw toilet paper and eggs all over his home and truck.
“Nobody was here, and there was just spray paint on the driveway, spray paint on the garage with some foul things being said. Toilet paper everywhere, eggs all over the house, all over the truck. It ended up taking paint off the truck and taking paint off the front door,” homeowner Connor Barrett said.
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If payment is made to this victim because of the listing on the registry then payment is owed to all victims of vandalism because of the listing on the registry. By paying this settlement Washington County is by their own admission setting a precedent that the county isresponsible for the vandalism that occurs from posting this type of information. By paying the settlement it allows all registrants to form a class action lawsuit asking for the same protections.
There is no settlement or payment that I am aware of.
Notice how the local Sheriff’s office hasn’t responded for comment because they’ve most likey been adivised not to by the department lawyers knowing full well a future lawsuit against them and the state will be pending. This wasn’t a case of “mistaken identity” because the registry has a disclaimer on the website that says: “information is NOT guaranteed to be current or accurate.” You know why they put that on there? So the state can have a defense against people like the ones in this news article!
Notice how the female reporter said that the state’s registry officials told her that the info is “correct.” They think that statement will cover their butt. Well, guess what? – it doesn’t matter if the information is correct! Heck, I get Amazon and USPS packages that are addressed to people that live down the street.
What is it going to take for people like this guy to understand that the registry is DANGEROUS to everyone! It would’ve been all the same if this guy’s house was burnt to the ground. He STILL would have said: “I can’t believe someone would burn my house down without triple checking where they live.”
But but but it’s not punitive! And the state would never “get it wrong”….They said so!
Mistaken is an understatement. What if they were home, and if there were children home. The children would have been traumatized. Does the state and county post murders who have a felony for life in public records and advertise that on holidays ? The new age people are ruthless, they have no common sense or vision of future consequences. But what do the politicians care.