Does anyone know the law around here?
This week something happened on the island that shook many people. It angered them, it confused them and it struck a chord in them that resonated with a sonic boom. Many of those people are Island School parents.
Late last Friday afternoon a letter went out to school parents explaining that a registered sexual offender was working within the walls of the Boca Grande Community Center. It explained that the individual had no contact with any of the children in regard to the school, that all appropriate agencies had been notified and had given consent and that local law enforcement was monitoring the situation. The letter also reiterated to parents all safety precautions that were already in place at the school. No names were given, nor the organizations the individual worked for.
I’m sure you can assume what happened next.
Heads exploded. The parents were not having it. They were beyond upset, and with good reason. Because there isn’t enough information in the world that could have been given for these parents to create an informed opinion, particularly when the school wasn’t able to give out too much information.
Of course, these parents who live in the era of technology did their own detective work to find out certain pertinent details. A worried parent can, with a small amount of information, find out what the person construed as a potential threat had for breakfast if they feel like their child is threatened.
As the week went on, tensions escalated. A good part of this was due to the fact that no one could find out the law in Lee County. Could a registered offender be here, under any circumstances?
What made the situation exponentially worse was the fact that so many government entities said it was fine – they said that this individual had the right to work and support themselves. This person has numerous people on the island who know them personally and love them, so their feelings were on their sleeve as well.
In many ways, the way this was being depicted on many levels to the parents at the school, their feelings of concern didn’t matter. They even made it clear that the parents’ “predictable” behavior was unsavory in some way.
So the “safe place” where our island children go to school, which is connected with the Boca Grande Community Center, seemed no longer safe to many people. It seemed that the rights of one individual – a person who had been convicted of a crime against a child of a sexual nature and placed on a sexual offender registry – no matter what the nature of that crime was – were more important than the safety of 60-plus school children, not to mention the visiting children who play on the playground that sits between the buildings, every day.
We have a very unique situation here on the island, as we are the only school that is located on Lee County “park” property (that is how they refer to it, as a park). Even though the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Lee County Parks & Recreation were flooded with calls, the people who took those calls were not familiar enough with the layout of our facilities to make an accurate judgment call.
Until Tuesday night, that is. Because on Tuesday night someone down south of us at the LCSO told people at these organizations within the Community Center walls that the school sat on top of a park, and in Lee County, Florida, parks are off limits for people who are listed on the sexual offender registry. In turn, the individual who was working at the island organizations located within the Community Center was told he could no longer be on the grounds. At all. At any time.
The person who hired this individual obviously had no intention at all of starting trouble. In fact, this person contacted the county where the offense had taken place and the offender was placed on the list to make sure it was all right if this person worked there. They were told it was fine, because in Sarasota County it was acceptable for this person to work in proximity of a school, even in a school. The hirer also contacted the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and was told it was fine for this person to work there.
Armed with this information, as well as the fact that this person’s record does say “Released – no restrictions,” the hirer brought this person onboard to work for them.
What else could they have done? When you check with law enforcement authorities and receive information from them, you expect that it is correct. Short of speaking directly to the person who set the regulations, there’s no more you can do.
And that’s the point in the story when the “offender” was no longer the story. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is now.
On Wednesday we met with people who worked at the organizations in the Community Center. We were told that they had been notified by the “authorities” that this person was not allowed to be on the premises. You can read the letter on page 5.
So on Thursday morning, the day we go to press, we thought we had an answer. As it turns out, nothing is farther from the truth. Because at 1:21 p.m. on a Thursday, when we go to press at 3 p.m., Sheriff Carmine Marceno issued a statement that was an answer to a series of pointed questions I had sent to their public information officer … after I had spoken briefly with their head of their sexual offender division and he didn’t have any answers for me.
Keep in mind, he was able to talk to any and all of the Island School parents who called him in the last few days. Just not to me. Because I’m “press.” I’m also an Island School parent, but one trumps the other.
These were my questions:
Are there any exceptions to a registered sexual offender working in a building that is also used by the school?
I was told by one of the organization’s legal consult that his record could be expunged after 25 years. Is that true?
I was told by this same attorney that the offender had been “thoroughly vetted through the state” and it was determined he was allowed to work with children. Is this possible?
When a registered sex offender starts a job in a building that is in close proximity to a school – or literally part of the school – how soon do the people who work in that building have to be notified? Do they have to be notified? In what manner would they be notified?
Is he monitored in any way, such as checking in and checking out with law enforcement, when he is working in the building?
The community center owns the playground that is located in between the school and the community center building. Visitors to the island use the playground at all times of the day. Would that preclude him from being allowed there?
So, in response to these questions, at 1:21 p.m. on Thursday, I received this:
“The safety of our children is a priority of Sheriff Marceno. The Sheriff’s Office is aware that the Friends of Boca Grande and the Royal Palm Players, Inc. have contracted with an individual who is a registered sex offender. The investigation to date has indicated that no children are present in the area during the hours that this individual performs his duties. The area in question involves a park, a school, and a community center. Portions of the community center are leased to the Friends of Boca Grande and the Royal Palm Players, Inc. The investigation continues however, at this point, it does not appear that any violation of law has occurred. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office continues to closely monitor the situation and if a violation is identified, appropriate action will be taken.”
Now we have two different versions of how the law is interpreted, allegedly disseminated by the same organization – the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
Why would the person who hired the offender say he wasn’t allowed to work there if the person wasn’t told that? Why wouldn’t this person simply say that the offender was let go by both organizations, even though he had a right to work there? Doesn’t that lead one to believe that this person was told the offender could not be there?
I tried to reach back out to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and tried to get to Sheriff Marceno directly. After being put on hold for a good solid 10 minutes I was transferred to someone else, who transferred me to someone else, who was a person who did not seem to share our sense of urgency in regard to finding answers to our questions. No luck with the sheriff, no more answers, no return phone call. Nada.
Apparently answers to pertinent sex offender questions are not within their wheelhouse. Maybe we will try another day.
Bottom line: The two organizations who utilized this person’s skills no longer utilize the person on the grounds of the Community Center. He has no more reason to be around the Community Center or the school. But it is apparently within his right to be there if he chooses.
Unless we hear otherwise, the regulations in Lee County state that it is perfectly fine for a person listed on the sexual offender registry to be in a building with children, at a school, whenever they choose to be there. They will share bathrooms with them in aftercare, they will share hallways with them, they will be within a stone’s throw of the theater from the aftercare room.
Believe me, I will let you know if I hear differently. At this point in time, though, it seems as though this is just about as clear as mud. And that won’t do when it comes to questions about the safety and welfare of our children.
