Would you ever buy a house near a sex offender?

[livetodream]

We have a situation where we've been looking at quite a few houses and feel like we've finally found a house that we both like with good schools and a good location and is not totally out of the price range because it hasn't already been fully remodeled so people aren't throwing down cash offers for it.

BUT... a sex offender lives two doors down. According to online reports, he was convicted ten years ago of possession/control of obscene material depicting a minor and also sending/selling/distributing said material. So I guess I'm stating the charges because he wasn't convicted of harm against a child but of harboring this material. Meaning, I hope there would be a little less threat to my personal safety or the safety of the children we intend to have.

However, to me, this is still a definite no, but my husband is kind of wavering on this, seeing as we feel like we've found THE house and we're tired of the process and all the disclosures check out and we were about to write an offer.

So, opinions?

 

[easysurfer]

NO, I would not. A sex offender two doors down would worry me.

 

[Fermion]

Not having kids (or ever planning to have kids) it wouldn't really bother me. I might worry about resale value a little bit if I did not intend to stay long term (future buyers might have your same concern).

On the other hand, why release a person back into society if they are just going to be vilified for the rest of their life? More compassionate just to execute them.

 

[MichaelB]

livetodream, welcome to the E-R Forum. Why not stop by here and tell us about yourself, and what brings you here.

 

[Greencheese]

For the crime committed, it probably wouldn't bother me. A non violent offender isn't likely to be an issue so long as your kids are properly educated and supervised. Are you by a restricted area such as a park or school?

 

[ivinsfan]

No I wouldn't buy the house and I think you are splitting hairs, when you say he wasn't convicted of "harming" a child. I'n sure the children in the photos/films would disagree with you. That's no different then a drug dealer that doesn't use drugs..not someone you want for a neighbor IMO.

 

[MRG]

Would not bother me in the least. If the state had any real evidence he'd be locked up forever.

 

[2017ish]

...

BUT... a sex offender lives two doors down. According to online reports, he was convicted ten years ago of possession/control of obscene material depicting a minor and also sending/selling/distributing said material. ...

"Sex Offender" is so overbroad as to be meaningless--even with the details you provided.

How old was he at the time? What type of materials? What jurisdiction was he convicted in? Extreme example that will be in the news again within a month: fourteen year olds texting "obscene" pictures of themselves, then recipient retexts. The first is "guilty" of creating, controlling, and distributing child porn, the second of possessing, controlling, and distributing--at least in the eyes of some law enforcers and D.A.s who seek "to send a message" of how much harm teenaged stupidity can cause and, of course, protect them from themselves.

OTOH, there have always been some sick people in the world who you would rather not be anywhere close to. Which situation is this?

/libertarianish_rant

 

[cathy63]

So what happens if you buy another house with no sex offenders nearby and two years later, a sex offender buys the house two doors down from you? Would you move?

 

[Senator]

Recognize that information on many sex offenders are not even public knowledge. It would impact property values. After you bought, one could move in and it would decimate your values.

I have a relative that was a software developer. He downloaded a few files that were inappropriate (less than 1% of his 'collection') among other legal adult files. He was on a file sharing network, like Napster, so he was labeled a distributor. He is serving five years in federal prison and will be labeled a sex offender for life. He never created nor actually sent out or sold any files.

He had a wife and 3 kids. Went to church every Sunday. Paid lots of taxes. He would not be dangerous, nor scary to live around. Much safer than a burglar, thief that serves a few months and gets let out on probation.

Another one I know was 18 and had a 14 year old GF. He is a sex offender and has to register, but not to the level the public is notified, or even knows he lives there (not my property)

As a landlord, if I had single family homes, I would want one to live there. Assuming they had jobs and decent credit. I know landlords that have them. They are quiet, rarely have too much company, no kids climbing the walls and breaking the refrigerator shelves.

 

[Sue J]

Being convicted of one type of crime doesn't always mean that's the only thing he did or was charged with. If you follow any of these kinds of cases in court there is a lot of plea bargaining and maybe what he did is not what he was convicted of. Do you really think his conviction accurately describes every activity that he engaged in? Is there a way to know? Not really.

I'm all for people being given second chances and it's awful that some people's lives are ruined for youthful mistakes. But child porn/sexual predator stuff involving a close neighbor is not something I would want to have to think about every single day. It's a different type of crime that doesn't get "cured" very often.

I've checked the database for our neighborhood and yes, there are some nearby. I even recognized one as someone I had spoken to a number of times. I never would have guessed that he'd be someone on a list like that.

 

[NW-Bound]

I myself do not want to be close to anybody like that, or even a Bernie Madoff type. It may be irrational, I know, but I may just be a borderline misanthrope anyway.

BUT... a sex offender lives two doors down. According to online reports, he was convicted ten years ago of possession/control of obscene material depicting a minor and also sending/selling/distributing said material. So I guess I'm stating the charges because he wasn't convicted of harm against a child but of harboring this material. Meaning, I hope there would be a little less threat to my personal safety or the safety of the children we intend to have...

That's 10 years ago. Nowadays, he stores it all on his secure smartphone. It's all safe.

 

[Meadbh]

I would not buy the house, particularly if I was planning to have children. On the one hand, the devil you know might be better than the one you don't. But I would probably never feel comfortable there.

 

[redduck]

I would pass on this house. We don't exactly know what this guy did. Suppose he turns out to be friendly towards your young children? (I understand you don't have children yet). You probably don't want to spend much of your time worrying about his mentioning the neat tennis shoes your daughter or son is wearing--stuff that another neighbor might do and your not thinking anything of it. If one of your kids started acting out, you and your husband might start accusing one another about "maybe it was a mistake" to buy this home. Furthermore, if one of your kids gets in the kind of common but self-destructive situation a child or teen-ager might get into I'm guessing you will immediately think about this neighbor's possible influence.

 

[MBAustin]

This may sound weird, but have you gone to the house and introduced yourself and asked to speak with said offender? If they are upfront with you about what happened and what they are doing now, it seems to me unlikely they will cause any problems in the future.

I know someone who was convicted of a charge that resulted in prison time and a lifetime "sex offender" label, and he is very upfront with everyone including his neighbors.

 

[ls99]

So long as I live in a Castle Doctrine state, no problem.

BTW in PA the sex offender database is publicly and easily searchable for each ZIP code. Thus can know ahead time.

Or even if one moves into the neighborhood later. Which event of course is a horse of a different color.

 

[calmloki]

Years ago I rented 1/2 a duplex in a 5-plex to a convicted sex offender. The only problem I had was feeling a duty to incoming applicants to let them know a sex offender lived real close. He lived there for years and appreciated our getting him out of Salvation Army housing. As a tenant he was definitely in the top 10%.

Had a handyman who was somewhere under 100 IQ points and a sex offender - he had taken a plea deal that kept him from going to court and that plea saddled him with sex offender status. Had he more brain power and a wallet with other than moths inside I doubt he would have had that sex offender onus.

 

[Bestwifeever]

There are two big things to consider: your future children's safety and your investment. Are either of them at risk? I think I would keep looking. OTOH the block parties should be interesting.

 

[ronin]

There's a website that shows the location of registered sex offenders in the area. There are a surprising number of them nearby (within a few miles) including several within a few blocks. So it maybe that while this person is the one you know of, he may not be the only one near you.

I am sure that there are former and current offenders of many types, not just sex crimes, around here. Probably wouldn't enter in to my decision to move here if I didn't already live here. No kids to worry about though.

 

[tmm99]

When I looked at the crime report website when I lived in the Silicon Valley, I was surprised to find sex offenders literally everywhere. Yet people paid ridiculous amount of money to buy houses in the same area. Besides, it is hard to pick neighbors unless you are willing to move every time someone undesirable moves close to you. Having said that, I would still like to avoid areas that have physical assaults, robberies, murders and such.

I imagine You may have luxury to be picky in more rural areas.


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[tmm99]

There's a website that shows the location of registered sex offenders in the area. There are a surprising number of them nearby (within a few miles) including several within a few blocks. So it maybe that while this person is the one you know of, he may not be the only one near you.

You may be talking about www.crimereports.com
That's what I looked at when I was looking for housing in the bay area (Northern CA) years ago.

 

[Dash man]

We've lived in our home for 15 years and 3 years ago a sex offender moved in with his brother down the street. The police chief held a meeting for the neighborhood to discuss the individual and answer any questions, also making a point it was illegal to threaten or harass him. This person had raped two women in their 50s with no battery charges associated with the rapes. He had a job and pretty much kept to himself while he was there. He did commit a parole violation of some type so he's behind bars again. But I would not confront him in any way about the crime as that can be considered harassment. But I wouldn't be too worried if he's been there ten years. That tells me he's at least not causing trouble locally.


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[daylatedollarshort]

As others suggested I would pay attention to the macro level crime statistics. The sex offender lists have so many people on them these days they are pretty much meaningless. In some areas people can get on them for public urination. You could pass on this house and end up moving next to a former serial killer instead since there are no lists for those kinds of crimes that I know of.

 

[redduck]

Would not bother me in the least. If the state had any real evidence he'd be locked up forever.

We've lived in our home for 15 years and 3 years ago a sex offender moved in with his brother down the street... This person had raped two women in their 50s with no battery charges associated with the rapes. He had a job and pretty much kept to himself while he was there. He did commit a parole violation of some type so he's behind bars again.

Apparently, this guy wasn't locked up forever.

note: all highlights by redduck

 

[Sue J]

You could pass on this house and end up moving next to a former serial killer instead since there are no lists for those kinds of crimes that I know of.

Or a future serial killer! There are no guarantees.

Speaking of criminal neighbors.... our adjacent neighbor (via the backyard) went to prison for 17 months for a child endangering conviction. She was in her 60's and plea bargained from an assault charge when a child in her care suffered skull fractures. She was everyone's favorite grandma type and ran a day care business in her home for 20+ years. Something happened there, she wouldn't admit to having done anything, she pled guilty to not seeking help for the child.

She is now 83 and doesn't remember our names even though we've been neighbors for 33 years.