Divided Florida Court Revokes Sex Offender’s Probation After Bizarre Feud With Neighbors
A peculiar dispute between two South Florida neighbors came before the Fourth District Court of Appeal on Wednesday when it found that a registered sex offender’s three-year “campaign of harassment” against the couple next door violated his probation and warranted a prison sentence.
The case drew conflicting opinions from the appellate panel as two judges found the defendant Scott Johnstone’s behavior fell under Florida’s stalking statute but a dissenting judge said the “antics” were nothing more than “petty annoying behavior.”
The feud began after Johnstone disclosed that he’d been convicted of 10 counts of possession of child pornography and his new neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Shockley, said they didn’t want anything to do with him.
Johnstone then allegedly did an array of things to annoy them, including painting a ”clown-like character” on an adjoining fence with the words,” STUPID PEOPLE BEYOND THIS POINT” and an arrow pointing to their house.
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I have neighbors like these who are also register citizens and I am glad they don’t talk to me!!!! I had learn while in prison to stay out of people’s business they stay out of mine. That is the best neighbor to have
No listing to other’s drama, added stress and bull$hit.. and most of all…. You won’t feel obligated to buy or give a holiday gift at xmas time for them!Crap I have a neighbor’s mother who feels that her son should not be on the registry but others should be on it too
Hard lesson in life that door is close for a reason so why try to open it up? There are other doors out there some should have never been open and some well…. You wish you never had open in the first place if you get my drift
I don’t feel sorry for the guy who got violated He was provoking them.
He should of left his neighbors alone like they asked. Eventually who’s to say his neighbors could of seen that he’s not a boogeyman or a threat; but instead he acted like an immature clown resulting in his loss.
Once the realization of being on the registry sets in, it would seem prudent to maintain a low profile from there on out so as to not draw attention to oneself. That is, a little tact is in order. Set an example.
Ben
I told a story in here a while back about a guy at the registry office that almost had the girl behind the glass in tears. He was calling her a bitch and slamming the counter saying “*uck you, I ain’t singin shit”.
He was not arrested but when I checked on her to see if she was ok, she laughed and said ” He just opened a hornets nest he can’t run from”.
I assume even if he is not arrested, he will get daily compliance checks, flyers on his door, neighbors notified, followed by unmarked units etc.
He only has himself to blame. You cannot even blame the registry for this one because all the couple did (From what little I can tell from the article) was to tell him to stay away from them, which is their right.
I do not feel sorry for him and this is one case I will not get behind a fellow registrant on. Incidents like this are used to make us all out to be bad guys.
Neighbors that don’t want anything to do with you and will leave you alone are the best Neighbors in my opinion. He should have been respectful and let them alone..
agreed! has enough on his plate without adding more shame on him!
People who mind their own business are the best regardless if they like you. If you want drama try working in show business; otherwise mind your business!!
If you have neighbors that won’t associate with you, that’s their choice, so please respect them by LEAVING THEM ALONE.
Especially if you are on probation or parole.
I have mixed feelings about this story. I laughed,I read the comment by Jacob ,and thought to myself, true. But am not sure if it was any other type of offender we would be having this discussion. Now I don’t think we got the full story here and how it led to this. But ,I get tired of being targeted by legislature,vigilante’s, and anyone in-between that comes across the registry to give reformed registered Citizens a hard time,whether it be a dirty look,comment, or what have you. If his neighbor’s triggered him somehow because of his P A S T,well we need to start standing up for ourselves, one good harassment deserves another.This is getting old. You know as many registered Citizens as there are we should have our own rallies and protest at all cost.
[we should have our own rallies and protest at all cost.]
I have thought of this over the years many times. I wonder though will we where masks or will we stand proud sex offenders with open faces? I can imagine the counter protesters and what their signs would say and the wanna be hero’s/vigilantes will come out of the wood work.
Women Against Registry (WAR) has the most experience with anti-registry protests. Also Once Fallen.
Such a protest could get some members of the public to start thinking about these issues. But it could also place a burden on the Media Committee, who might be scrambling to prevent misleading headlines such as “Sex Offenders Demand More Rights” that can be counterproductive to the cause. And if the protest succeeds in lending visibility to its participants, then registrants who participated may find themselves worrying about repercussions for their kids at school, their spouses at work, etc.
Sorry to sound like such a naysayer but I think these are some of the reasons we don’t see so many anti-registry public protests. It’s an issue whenever an unpopular class of people is fighting for their constitutional rights. W.A.R. is a little different, as they tend to consist primarily of family members facing collateral consequences, and they tend to garner greater public sympathy from the get-go.
Jacob
I second the motion. On the one hand we should not be expected to sit on our hands in fear and do nothing. On the other hand, protesting and causes chaos could back fire on us in so many ways it is not funny.
Exhausting as it is, as expensive as it is, as frustrating as it is, our court battles are where we must win.