Maybe someone should call WFTV to complain about the residency restrictions that leave these people with noplace to live other than a Walmart parking lot….
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Walmart‘s the place you go for $12 jeans or the latest, store-exclusive Oreo flavor, but recently, the big box store’s been in headlines for a different reason: At least 16 registered sex offenders list it as their home address.
A WFTV report found that the sex offenders — some designated as sexual predators — listed the Clearlake Road store in Cocoa, FL, as their home base. That’s because Florida law allows homeless sex offenders to use the address of the closest physical address for their registration. Local police told the ABC station that those listing the address probably live in a wooded area across the street. (A search of the Florida Sexual Offenders And Predators database confirms this, with several of the listings citing the parking lot or wooded area nearby.)
Naturally, many shoppers were concerned about this news. “We go there, like, 10 times a week,” Poole said. “It’s pretty scary, you know? We have kids and, you know, you don’t want [the sex offenders] being around and you don’t know who it is.”
“It’s disturbing to learn that convicted felons would list our store as their residential address.” — Walmart
Walmart wasn’t aware that sex offenders had been listing the Clearlake store as their residence and issued the following statement to WFTV about the news:
“We work to maintain a safe environment for our customers and associates. It’s disturbing to learn that convicted felons would list our store as their residential address. We condemn such a practice and must refer any other questions to local law enforcement.”
According to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, sex offenders must list where they live, and if they’re homeless, they need to provide “some more or less specific description” of where the offender dwells.
I wonder… would they ever take the time to research just how long these guys n gals have been living there? I wonder if they realized that in the probably 2 decades or more that the store has NEVER had a single complaint…..Would that matter to anyone?????
IT SHOULD
My PO told me that I could not even go shopping at the Clearlake Walmart because of the Brevard County Ordinance 2006-31. This includes the Aldi across the street. I hope these guys aren’t setting themselves up for a violation. What a sad state of affairs. I am, a believer that most RSO’s are good, decent people who made some stupid decisions and in the process will be held accountable the rest of their lives in spite of the fact that most have recovered and gone on to be good, decent people once again. I can relate. It’s good to know that the customers at this Walmart have no fears about armed robbers or armed car jackers or armed drug dealers. Must be nice. I can’t remember the last time that I heard of an RSO attacking someone at this Walmart.
We should clearly remind these people, that the person they need to write about this is named Ron Book. And provide the general concerned public of Cocoa Beach of his address. Maybe put up a bill board or something. That would be great.