Articles
Fl. Law Pushes Sex Offenders Outside
Five convicted Florida sex offenders are residing under a freeway bridge with the state’s reluctant approval because a law intended to keep children safe from predators has made it almost impossible for them to find appropriate housing.
Some of the offenders have been there for many weeks and sleep on pieces of cardboard lifted slightly off the ground to keep away from rats.
“You just pray to God every night, so if you fall asleep for a minute or two, you know, nothing happens to you,” said Javier Diaz, 30, who was sentenced to three years probation in 2005 for lewd conduct involving a teenage girl.
Living Under a Bridge
The conditions these convicts have been forced to live in are a result of recent statutes that have been passed in Florida and other states that ban sex offenders from living any where near parks, schools, or other places in which children gather.
“They’ve often said that some of the laws will force people to live under a bridge,” said research associate at the Center for Sex Offender Management, Charles Onley. “This is probably the first story that I’ve seen that confirms that.”
The five men that have been residing under the Julia Tuttle Causeway are the only known sex predators that have been allowed to live outdoors in the state, said Gretl Plessinger, Florida Corrections Department spokeswoman.
The offenders must stay under the bridge between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. where a parole officer routinely checks on them. They have been given fishing poles to catch food, use small stoves and battery-powered radios and TVs, and keep all their stuff in plastic bags.
Diaz and the other men claim they fear for their safety, especially because of the “crazy people who might try to come harm sex offenders.”
Currently, 22 states and hundreds of cities have sex offender residency laws.
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