Would you ever buy a house near a sex offender?

[dallas27]

I haven't read the whole thread, but a 19 year old boy getting tagged for dating a 17 year girl, I have no problem with, in fact it's ridiculous, the woman is more mature than the man in that case.

Now a 40 year old touching kids, whole different thing.

Unfortunately for everyone, our system can't see the difference.

 

[Philliefan33]

Out of curiosity, I searched the PA Megan's Law website for my zip code. There are 15 offenders living or working in my zip code. They are listed as Tier 1 or Tier 2 or Tier 3, with definitions of each Tier available elsewhere on the site. Tier 1 looks like where one would end up for possessing child porn or having consensual sex with a minor. Tier 3 includes violent rape and kidnapping.

One man is listed as a "sexually violent predator". Yikes! His mug shot doesn't look scary, I may have walked past him at the grocery store without even noticing him.

I was surprised to see a young man that graduated from high school with my oldest daughter (age 26). He's a Tier 1. I'll have to ask DD if he was a creep in HS.

To the OP's question: if the potential neighbor was a Tier 1 offender, and the house was perfect in all other ways, I would buy the house. There are many "ifs" in your future. If you have kids, if he still lives there when you have kids. If you buy a different house, what's to prevent a sex offender from moving in next door?

If the potential neighbor is listed as a "sexually violent predator", I wouldn't want to live two doors away. For my own safety as well as any future children.

 

[redduck]

Out of curiosity, I searched the PA Megan's Law website for my zip code. ...One man is listed as a "sexually violent predator". Yikes! His mug shot doesn't look scary, I may have walked past him at the grocery store without even noticing him...

The issue wouldn't be that you didn't notice him, the issue would be that he didn't notice you.

To the OP's question: if the potential neighbor was a Tier 1 offender, and the house was perfect in all other ways, I would buy the house
...If you buy a different house, what's to prevent a sex offender from moving in next door?

If you buy a different house I guess there is nothing to prevent a sex offender from moving in next door. However, if the OP buys the house that is two doors down from the sex offender, there is still nothing to prevent another sex offender from buying a house right next door to her. Not a great block for a child to grow up on (my opinion).

Another problem would eventually surface: unless the OP could find a sex offender to buy her house, that house would be on the market for a long, long time.

 

[gauss]

If you are really worried about this you could purchase a house near a school or other restricted area under a Jessica's law statute if it exists in your state.

Be aware, however, that these laws are being increasingly struck down by the courts.

Many Condo / Home Owner associations also have adopted the trend to attempt to ban sex offenders from their residences.

Certainly not saying that I agree with these policies but be aware that they are out there.

-gauss

 

[M Paquette]

It turns out that if you ever buy a house in anything less than a very empty rural environment that you have probably bought a house near someone labeled as a 'sex offender'.

In most places, there also isn't a guarantee that one won't move in near you later, or an existing neighbor will be labeled as such.

There are some interesting ways people get tagged for life. Golfers, hold it til you get back to the clubhouse. And look out for forensic breadcrumbs being left on your computer. Don't use peer-to-peer fileshare software (some software may use your system as an intermediate caching node). Use mail and web filters, and set your mail to never load remote images automatically (nasty stuff attached to some spam). Don't run a Tor exit node (you really don't want to show up as the exit node in some ISP log under investigation).

 

[youbet]

I believe this is the case in my home state of MD. You can be labeled a sex offender for relieving yourself outdoors. I like to golf but will not walk into the woods on any course in MD and urinate anymore. Probably shouldnt do it anywhere to begin with but all guys seem to do this on the course at some point.

A couple of beers and walking 18 holes without peeing is not possible for some of us geezer-guys.

 

[devans0]

One problem of keeping safe is that guilty will learn to mimic innocence. Actively recruiting pedophiles will find roles of authority with children and groom them. Rapists will act so nice. Their crime will be minimized, and aim blame at the victim.

"I can't help but feel so sorry for that little girl. Some people in her family abused her and really screwed her up. I tried to get her help but they manipulated her and got her to say I did it. I just pray that that girl will get the help she needs. They stopped me an' there's nothing I can do, but despite all I went through, I can look at myself in the mirror and know that I tried to get her help."

This was pretty close to verbatim of what I was told by a child molester I once knew. Later, I learned that he preyed on his brother's children, too.

Got convicted for peeing? I'd have to check court transcripts before I would believe that line.

 

[ziggy29]

Got convicted for peeing? I'd have to check court transcripts before I would believe that line.

Mapped: Sex offender registry laws on statutory rape, public urination, and prostitution.

In any event, the point isn't that a lot of people are being ruined for life by peeing in a bush, but the potential is there, on the books, in several states. And the problem is that even if it wasn't strictly the intent of the law, in the real world when people hear someone is a registered sex offender, they think about child molesters and serial rapists, not about someone whipping it out to take a whizz in the bushes, or even (say) an 18-year-old engaging in non-coerced relations with a 17-year-old SO. And yet the law in some states, and certainly the court of public opinion and in the minds of many employers, don't draw a distinction between them.

 

[cyber888]

Sure! I love those pretty lady teachers who are sex offenders because they went after the boys. These pretty ladies offenders can come knocking at my door any day.

 

[ziggy29]

Sure! I love those pretty lady teachers who are sex offenders because they went after the boys. These pretty ladies offenders can come knocking at my door any day.

Which is, of course, a classic example of a gender-based double standard. If a 30-year-old female teacher has relations with a 15-year-old male student, to many people he's "lucky" and she was "in love". Reverse the genders and many of these same people will call for the death penalty.

 

[harley]

Now if there was only a database for overbearing, nosy a-hole neighbors...

Often it's the list of HOA board members.

 

[harley]

It's not just public urination that can put people unnecessarily on a sex offenders list. Underage sexting can do it too, and has many times. Here's a good article on the problem, with links to some cases. It does at least appear that some states are backing off on labeling underage teens as lifetime sex offenders for exchanging pictures of themselves, and that's a good thing. But it does show that common sense doesn't enter into the picture of sex offender panic.

 

[haha]

Which is, of course, a classic example of a gender-based double standard. If a 30-year-old female teacher has relations with a 15-year-old male student, to many people he's "lucky" and she was "in love". Reverse the genders and many of these same people will call for the death penalty.

Tough time to be a man.

 

[GypsyGrasshopper]

Sure! I love those pretty lady teachers who are sex offenders because they went after the boys. These pretty ladies offenders can come knocking at my door any day.

But they won't be knocking on your door. You're too old! Pedophiles aren't all men.

 

[Sunset]

This was my thought as well. There are no guarantees that you won't have a sex offender move in next door, sometime in the future.

Is the house discounted, or can this be used as a negotiating point in the purchase price? Seriously - I'd consider it if I could get a good enough deal on the house. And I have kids at home.

We have various minor sex offenders within a few blocks of our house. Several are geriatric old guys living in the senior community near us.

+1
We have one living next door.
He was convicted and went away for a over a year after we moved into the neighborhood.

I really didn't know for about 8 years until we accidentally searched for Sex Offenders due to a tv show about them. Boy was I surprised

When I do a search I find a few others within a 10 minute walk, so I guess the only way to avoid it is live out in the middle of Nowhere.

I would still buy the place, at least we know 1 of the dangers around and won't be fooled.

Our Sex Offender Neighbor is pleasant, friendly for driveway chats, waving at local cars and keeps to himself.

If you are really interested in the house, but still concerned, then search for the Sex Offenders in that neighborhood, you can probably get the criminal record (our state charges $30 for it). The idea being you can see what type of criminal he was, as there are a lot of not so bad type of things that can get you that label, and then there are really bad things too.
Knowing the truth will help the decision.

 

[Sunset]

Haha. I'll tell these lady sex offenders - "Be careful being near the youngsters or I'll report you, but you can rip my clothes of and rape me anytime you feel like it." lol

The repairman who had to fix something in Karla Holmoka's cell didn't feel at all excited, in fact he felt afraid of that pretty young thing even though she was a sex offender serial killer.

 

[Totoro]

It is the criminals that are not known that keep me up at night.

This would be my reasoning too.

Also, the person in question can move out, other people will move in during the years with all possible backgrounds, he is known, it's been 10 years and presumably been clean since. In addition he got caught.

I don't have children however, so it's easy to write these things from behind a keyboard ..