Levy County Schools Warn Sex Offenders: Stay Away [WITH FAC COMMENTARY]

The following report came out yesterday on WUFT news.

Levy County Florida has decided to completely ban sex offenders from school (parents or not) events and has posted notices on the properties.

The article is neither good nor bad, but it highlights several things which we will comment on inline and IN CAPS.

 

 

 

Levy County Schools Warn Sex Offenders: Stay Away

Signs like this one posted at Bronson Middle and High School highlight Florida’s sex offender laws regarding offender’s access to school campuses. The 48 signs, which cost $600,  are posted at 14 schools in Levy County. They are the result of a partnership between the Levy County Sheriff’s Office and the Levy County School Board. Ayana Stewart / WUFT News

It all started when a registered sex offender came to Chiefland Elementary School to watch a holiday play. A parent recognizes the offender and tells the assistant principal, who calls Chiefland Police.

[FAC COMMENT: NOTE, THE RSO CAME TO SCHOOL TO WATCH HIS DAUGHTER’S PLAY]

This series of events led to Levy County schools adding signs telling sex offenders to stay away from campuses, according to Chiefland Police Chief Robert Douglas.

[FAC COMMENT: “SERIES OF EVENTS’??? THIS IS AN INSTANCE]

He said no children were affected or harmed and the offender wasn’t arrested. The 48 signs, which totaled $600 and are spread across 14 schools, are a joint effort from the Levy County School Board and Levy County Sheriff’s Office.

[FAC COMMENT: SO NOTHING HAPPENED AND HE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING ILLEGAL…YET THE LEVY COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD AND SHERIFF’S OFFICE WILL EXPEND MONEY AND TIME POSTING SIGNS ON SCHOOLS, IN RESPONSE TO “NOTHING HAPPENING”, WHICH WILL PROBABLY PANIC CHILDREN AND PARENTS AND SET A PERCEPTION THAT THERE’S SOME DANGER LURKING IN THE SCHOOL YARD.]

Levy County Sheriff Bobby McCallum, who was elected in 2012, said he’s aware of only two incidents in Levy County since he became sheriff: the one in Chiefland and another occurrence where parents reported concerns in Cedar Key.

[FAC COMMENT: AHHHH!!! TWO INCIDENTS… I GUESS THAT’S THE “SERIES OF EVENTS” – OR SHOULD WE SAY, NON-EVENTS, THAT SPURRED THE JOINT EFFORT.]

“To my knowledge, there has been no bigger issue,” he said. “It’s all preventative.”

State law dictates that a registered sex offender who wants to attend an after-school event with students younger than 18 must notify the school. If the request is approved, the sex offender is supervised by a designated chaperone while on campus.

A Chiefland Elementary School employee said the school could not comment on the event, which Douglas said happened late last year.

Cedar Key Police Chief Virgil Sandlin said the incident at Cedar Key School resulted from “overzealous parents.”

[FAC COMMENT: WHY DO YOU THINK THE PARENTS ARE “OVERZEALOUS”? COULD IT BE BECAUSE YOU ARE PANICKING THEM BY PUTTING UP SIGNS AT THE SCHOOLS AND CREATING DRAMA OVER NON-EVENTS]

Sandlin said a sex offender who used to live in the community wanted to attend his son’s sporting events and parents became angry.

[FAC COMMENT: HMMM… IS IT POSSIBLE THAT A PARENT WOULD GENUINELY WANT TO SEE THEIR OWN SON’S GAME WITHOUT ANY “ULTERIOR MOTIVE”? WHAT ABOUT THE KID? IS IT EVEN A REMOTE POSSIBILITY THAT IT MIGHT BE A POSITIVE THING TO HAVE HIS DAD AT THE GAME SO HE CAN MAKE HIM PROUD? ….NAH!!! STIGMATIZE THEM BOTH!!!]

“None of the children were, at any point, endangered,” Sandlin said. “He’s an atheist, and that stirred up more problems than the fact that he was also an offender.”

He said the city’s schools will have the signs, but children were never in harm’s way.

“If this guy was really a threat, we would’ve been more aggressive than what we were,” he said.

[FAC COMMENT: POSTING WARNINGS ON EVERY SCHOOL AND BANISHING A PARENT FROM THEIR CHILD’S SPORTING EVENT IS NOT AGGRESSIVE? THAT’S A PRETTY AGGRESSIVE RESPONSE TO A NON-EVENT IF YOU ASK ME…. PERSONALLY, I’D GLADLY LET THEM PUNCH ME IN THE FACE IF IT MEANT I COULD WATCH MY KID PLAY SOCCER]

‘In Their Interest’

According to Florida’s sex-offender laws, sex offenders are allowed to drop off and pick up their own children or grandchildren from school.

Jeff Edison, assistant superintendent of administration for the Levy County School Board, said parents have voiced concern about sex offenders being able to get on campuses easily.

[FAC COMMENT: THESE CONCERNS ARE A RESULT OF THE FEAR MONGERING THAT’S BEEN TAKING PLACE FOR DECADES. HOW MANY CHILDREN HAVE BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED ON SCHOOL CAMPUSES IN THE PAST 30 YEARS BY SEX OFFENDERS? HAVE ANY?!?! HOW MANY CHILDREN HAVE BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED ON SCHOOL CAMPUSES IN THE PAST YEAR ALONE BY TEACHERS?]

Edison said the signs will remind sex offenders of the restraints that come with being a registered offender.

[FAC COMMENT: THANKS FOR THE REMINDER, AS IF REGISTRANTS ARE NOT REMINDED EVERY DAY OF THEIR LIVES IN EVERYTHING THAT THEY DO. IN ADDITION TO THE COURTESY OF THE “REMINDER” IT WILL ALSO PERPETUATE FEAR AND STIGMATIZE THE CHILDREN OF THE REGISTRANT PARENTS WHO ATTEND THE SCHOOL]

“It’s in their interest to not be there if they’re not supposed to be there because it’s a violation,” Edison said.

Despite parents’ fears, University of Florida law professor and former prosecutor Bob Dekle said it’s unlikely for a stranger to pick a child at random to harm.

“The nightmare scenario is some stranger snatching your child off the street,” he said. “That’s a very low-probability occurrence.”

The more likely scenario is a relative or family friend harming a child, he said.

[FAC COMMENT: THANK YOU MR. DEKLE, EVEN IF YOU ARE A FORMER PROSECUTOR – AT LEAST YOU ARE WILLING TO SHARE THE TRUTH]

Dekle said he thinks it’s unlikely a sex offender doesn’t already know the rules.

[FAC COMMENT: WE WOULDN’T SAY THAT. THIS STATE IS A PATCHWORK OF EVER-CHANGING LAWS, RULES AND ORDINANCES, WITH THE STATE, COUNTY AND CITY HAVING THEIR OWN RULES WHICH REGISTRANTS ARE EXPECTED TO KNOW. THE LAWS TIGHTEN EVERY YEAR WITHOUT NOTICE.]

“It would be difficult for someone who’s a designated sexual offender or sexual predator to not know what the requirements are,” he said.

[FAC COMMENT: OH REALLY? THESE LAWS CHANGE ALL THE TIME (AGAIN, WITHOUT NOTICE) AND ARE SO VAGUE THAT EVEN THE PEOPLE WHO ENFORCE THEM DON’T KNOW WHAT THE REQUIREMENTS ARE. HAVE YOU EVER CALLED PROBATION, THE LOCAL SHERIFF’S OFFICE AND THE FDLE WITH THE SAME QUESTION?]

A Greater Worry

McCallum said the county’s number of sex offenders also raises concern.

[FAC COMMENT: FLORIDA HAS INCREASED THE NUMBER OF OFFENSES THAT QUALIFY AS “SEX OFFENSES” AND ALSO INCREASED THE PERIOD OF REGISTRATION TO LIFE FOR ALL OFFENDERS. FLORIDA ALSO KEEPS PEOPLE ON THE REGISTRY AFTER THEY MOVE OUT OF THE STATE, GET DEPORTED OR EVEN DIE. IF YOU’RE CONCERNED ABOUT THE NUMBER OF OFFENDERS TODAY, WAIT A FEW YEARS AND YOU’LL GIVE EVERY CITIZEN A HEART ATTACK]

Levy County has the second-highest ratio of sex offenders in north central Florida, according to data from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

[FAC COMMENT: READ ON AND LET’S FIND OUT WHY]

The county’s 180 sex offenders and predators make up 0.45 percent of the county’s population, or about 45 offenders per 10,000 people. Offenders gain predator designation after committing multiple sex crimes or a violent sex crime involving a child. Levy County has 20 sexual predators and 160 offenders currently registered with FDLE.

According to FDLE, there are 10,920 registered predators and 54,092 registered offenders in Florida. An analysis of Florida’s 67 counties shows that the average number of offenders and predators for Florida counties is 0.2 percent, or about 20 offenders per 10,000 people.

“For the size of the county, we’re dealing with – in my opinion – an abnormal amount of offenders and predators,” McCallum said.

Sex offenders with victims younger than 16 cannot live within 1,000 feet of any school, daycare, park or playground. Because of the spacious, rural nature of the county there are more residences in the area that fit the statutory requirements, McCallum said.

[FAC COMMENT:  AHHH… THAT’S WHY! BECAUSE ALL YOUR NEIGHBORS INCREASED THAT TO 2500 FEET TO SQUEEZE OUT THE REGISTRANTS. NOW WE DON’T WANT TO GIVE YOU ANY BAD IDEAS, BUT HERE’S A GOOD ONE… PERHAPS IF THE STATE CAME IN AND SET SOME UNIFORMITY TO THE PATCHWORK OF LAWS THIS WOULDN’T BECOME A GAME OF SEX OFFENDER MUSICAL CHAIRS]

“It’s not a new statute. It’s been there,” he said. “We’ve come to the realization that maybe some offenders and predators aren’t totally familiar with that.”

[FAC COMMENT: HUH? BUT IF YOU SCROLL UP, DEKLE SAID ‘HE THINKS IT’S UNLIKELY A SEX OFFENDER DOESN’T ALREADY KNOW THE RULES’?!?! YOU GUYS NEED TO GET ON THE SAME PAGE IF YOU’LL BE QUOTED IN THE SAME ARTICLE]

Geoffery Farnsworth is a 34-year-old registered sex offender who lives in Dunnellon. He was added to the sex offender registry in 2004 after being convicted of lewd molestation of an elderly or disabled person, according to Levy County court records.

Farnsworth said he thinks the signs don’t get to the root of the issue.

“It’s not going to work when you’re dealing with people who have done their sentences and done what they had to do,” he said. “It’s not those people you have to worry about. It’s the people that have not been caught yet.”

Farnsworth isn’t personally affected by the law because he doesn’t have any school-aged children, but he said he has sympathy for rehabilitated offenders who might miss out on their children’s lives.

“It does kind of make it hard for the offender who got caught up in the wrong situation and is just trying to deal with life and get by,” he said.

Sara Creel, a 41-year-old Bronson resident, said she doesn’t let her 11-­year-­old daughter ride her bike alone, because she worries about sex offenders.

[FAC COMMENT: MS. CREEL, DID YOU KNOW THAT OVER 95% OF OFFENSES ARE COMMITTED BY FIRST TIME OFFENDERS? SHOULDN’T YOU WORRY ABOUT THE EXPONENTIALLY GREATER THREAT THAT SHE MIGHT BE VIOLATED BY SOMEONE NOT ON THE REGISTRY? OR DID YOU KNOW “IN 2013, A TOTAL OF 1,149 CHILDREN 14 AND YOUNGER WERE KILLED IN MOTOR VEHICLE TRAFFIC CRASHES. OF THOSE 1,149 FATALITIES, 200 (17%) OCCURRED IN ALCOHOL-IMPAIRED-DRIVING CRASHES. OUT OF THOSE 200 DEATHS, 121 (61%) WERE OCCUPANTS OF VEHICLES WITH DRIVERS WHO HAD BACS OF .08 OR HIGHER, AND ANOTHER 29 CHILDREN (15%) WERE PEDESTRIANS OR PEDALCYCLISTS STRUCK BY DRIVERS WITH BACS OF .08 OR HIGHER. (NHTSA DATA QUERY, 2013)”? IT’S TRUE! THAT’S A QUOTE TAKEN FROM THE MOTHER’S AGAINST DRUNK DRIVERS WEBSITE.  MAYBE IT’S JUST GENERALLY NOT A GOOD IDEA TO LET YOUR 11 YEAR OLD RIDE HER BIKE ALONE, APPARENTLY, YOU HAVE A LOT MORE TO WORRY ABOUT THAN THE NEGLIGIBLE CHANCE THAT A SEX OFFENDER WILL DO SOMETHING TO HER! MAYBE IF THERE WASN’T SO MUCH POLITICALLY MOTIVATED SEX OFFENDER PROPAGANDA SPREAD AROUND, YOU WOULD BE MORE INFORMED OF THE ACTUAL RISKS AND YOUR CHILD WOULD BE SAFER.]

“I live on the only road in my subdivision that doesn’t have sex offenders in it,” she said. “We’re tired of it in Levy County.”

Creel said she has mixed feelings about the signs because “someone bent on causing destruction is going to find a way to do it.”

“I send my daughter to school thinking nothing’s going to happen,” she said. “You expect a certain degree of protection.”

[FAC COMMENT: THERE’S THAT FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY WE’RE TALKING ABOUT. BUT NOW THAT THE SIGNS ARE UP SHE’S GOING TO BE SAFE, RIGHT?]

Sandlin, the Cedar Key police chief, said Cedar Key School doesn’t have the capability to provide chaperones, which means the school now has a “zero-tolerance” policy for sex offenders.

[FAC COMMENT: THAT’S JUST WRONG. SO KIDS CAN’T HAVE THEIR PARENTS AT A BASKETBALL GAME BECAUSE OF (a) A RULE PROVEN BY EMPIRICAL STUDIES TO BE INEFFECTIVE, (b) CREATED OVER NON-EVENTS, (c) TO PREVENT AN EXTREMELY UNLIKELY SCENARIO, (d) THAT WILL CREATE A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY. IN THE MEAN TIME, DRUG DEALERS, MURDERERS AND DRUNK DRIVERS ARE WELCOME AROUND YOUR CHILDREN ANYTIME]

“It’s a delicate situation,” he said.

[FAC COMMENT:  “F*ED UP” WOULD BE A MORE APPROPRIATE WAY TO DESCRIBE THE SITUATION]