Police Error Making a Sex Offender Move
My question involves criminal law for the state of: Indiana (Howard County)
A friend of mine was recently sentenced as a sex offender. He is currently serving the last of his jail sentence. Part of his probation is that he can't live within 1000 feet of a park or child day care. When we called about his address we were told he cant live there cause of a day care. We have looked around and cannot find this place. We went to the police to ask and all they would tell us angrily is that he cant live here cause they put the address in the computer and it came negative and gave us the name of the place. The place doesnt exist around the address he lives at. We will call it "Day Care. However there is a place with a similar name in the town "Day Care II". If you took his adress, say 1000 North Main street and turned it into South Main street, then it would be within 1000 feet of the place. What i wish to know is how do we go about getting this correct, because if he is released he has no where else to go and would be in instant probation violation.
Re: Police Error Making a Sex Offender Move
If he is a "friend" of yours, you need to get new friends. You are not going to find any way around the distance restrictions, and legally you have NO STANDING to do anything. Many times these ordinances are designed so that there is virtually no place that a registered sex offender can live.
However, you need to find out first how the distance is calculated. Is it driving distance, based on the roads, or is it a straight line, like a bird flys. Get a good map and map out the parks and "day care" and see exactly what the distances are. Read the ordinance itself and have a good understanding of exactly what it means.
Then check the permits. It has been found that many day care "centers" are not properly licensed or permitted or that the physical location violates the rules and laws for a daycare center. Really the best way around your friend's problem is to have the daycare shut down if that is possible. It is kind of a long shot but it does work sometimes. There are lots of bad daycare operators out there.
Re: Police Error Making a Sex Offender Move
The probation department knows how to read maps. Perhaps you could help him convey a map showing the two locations to the probation office.
If he cannot get clearance for the proposed address by the time he is scheduled to be released, he will need to find a different place to live.