Hundreds of ‘worst of the worst’ sex offenders to be set free in taxpayer-funded homes

They are convicted of sex crimes and are considered so dangerous that the state of Washington – liberal, latte-loving Washington – once decided they should be placed on an island in Puget Sound.

They will now be released to communities across the state, including homes that are near a playground and less than half a mile from a school bus stop. And it will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

According to The Post Millennial, this is all part of a 2021 law passed by the Washington Democrats that amended the state’s law to allocate paroled Level 3 violent sex offenders currently residing on McNeil Island to so-called less restrictive alternative housing. or LRA.

Democratic Senator Christine Rohlfs said at the time the legislation was passed that it would allow “potentially dangerous, but not necessarily dangerous people to return to communities where they can live in safety and with the protection of their constitutional freedoms.”

McNeil Island, according to a 2018 UK Guardian institution profile, had just over 200 residents who “have been convicted of at least one sexual offense including sexual assault, rape and child molestation. The court then ruled that they met the legal definition of “sexually abusive predator,” which means they have a mental anomaly or personality disorder that makes them prone to repeated sexual abuse.”

“The only way to and from the small island is by passenger ferry, which makes a 15-minute trip every two hours. The ferry docks at the defunct prison on the island, while the bus takes employees and visitors to the facility several miles inland.

All the men on the island were level three sex offenders. According to the San Juan County, Washington website, “Washington state law requires that the general public be notified of information about Level 3 registered sex offenders” and “Level 3 offenders are considered to be at high risk of reoffending in the community and meet the majority , if not all” from a number of criteria.

These criteria include “[c]having a history of repeated sexual offenses or other acts involving violence”, “[o]the offender did not undergo treatment,[s]former crimes against strangers and/or the general public” and “[o]the offender expresses the intent and/or desire to continue to commit offenses”, among other things.

Although the civic engagement center was considered the first of its kind in the 1980s, it has now fallen out of favor on the left — and according to KTTH-AM talk show host Jason Rantz, the Washington State Department of Human Services and Health has handed over 22 of these delinquents. in the LRA in 2022, two have already been released in 2023.

Residents are sorted into districts of the state because misfortune (and fear, and real danger) loves company, I guess. So far, 11 of the released Level 3 sex offenders have been released in Pierce County, eight in King County, four in Spokane County, and one in Snohomish County.

Glen Morgan, a Washington state conservative activist and founder of local political publication We the Governed, told KVI-AM that “they decided instead of keeping them on an isolated island in the middle of Puget Sound where they used to have a federal prison, they decided:” Hey, this is a great idea. Let’s distribute them evenly–evenly across all counties in the state of Washington. And we will put them in the neighborhood and give them to commercial companies, which should not be subject to public records laws or open public meeting rules.”

Amazing, no?

In Tenino, Washington, located in rural Thurston County south of the state capital Olympia, residents say they only become aware of the LRA in their community at the “11th hour,” Seattle-based KOMO-TV reported Tuesday. .

The two-story home is operated by Supreme Living LLC, a home care provider hired by the government. Companies are allowed to dictate how LRA information is released to the public in communities. Both Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders and residents told KOMO that the company “didn’t speak well” about the house.

“Residents told KOMO News that it was not until January 11 that they learned about the LRA and its potential residents via a community post on Facebook, and insisted that after attending a meeting to learn more, they were left with more questions than answers. , KOMO reported.

It is due to open with one resident on February 1, according to The Centralia, Washington Chronicle, although the facility allows up to five sex offenders to live.

This caused outrage in the community, especially given that the house is located across from a recreation area and half a mile from a school bus stop. Sheriff Sanders opposes the house due to the limited resources available in the countryside.

However, in a recent meeting, he told a resident who asked about blocking the entry of sex offenders that he didn’t want to see “negative retribution.”

“Obviously this is a very negative issue, no one is happy,” he said. “We’re on your side, there’s always the right way to do things.”

The problem is, how can one trust the Higher Life to behave correctly? They have already chosen a location that is fairly rural where services are difficult to access for dangerous sex offenders trying to reintegrate into society, but close enough that said sex offenders can easily access children.

This upset local residents, and KCPQ in Seattle reported last week that the “standing room only” county hearing caused “county commissioners … now to consider possible legal action to stop any transfers.”

“Knowing that five Level 3 sex offenders from McNeil Island will be in my backyard scares me to death,” said Tenino resident Sarah Fox, who attended the meeting.

In addition, the State Department of Corrections said the court overseeing the LRA is solely responsible for whether the property is sufficiently secure.

“A property owner is only required to resolve any issues or recommend changes to the location if the court compels them to do so. The DOC cannot require the property owner to address the issues noted,” a spokesperson for KTTH said, while noting that sex offenders will still wear ankle bracelets to keep an eye on them.

However, while the property will be under surveillance by cameras, there is still no fence, no armed guards to stop escapes, no 24-hour attendant from the state Department of Corrections to arrest an escaped sex offender. All because of the low, low cost of $38,000 per sex offender per month paid by the state of Supreme Living – until it reaches a maximum of five perpetrators, at which point it becomes $20,000 per per per offender per month.

Sheriff Sanders, speaking to KTTH’s Ranz, said he was upset when Supreme Living invited him to an open house to sort out the issues.

“I went to this meeting at City Hall with an open mind, right? Like, what’s really going on here?” Sanders said. “How are we going to solve this problem?

“And he left: “Wow, what a bad presentation.” There weren’t many answers. And my point of view obviously comes from law enforcement. When one of the sex offenders leaves, and one of them will eventually leave because it’s a permanent home… we’ve got sex offenders who never leave the house, have no right to ever leave, and expect them to never act impulsively and simply exit through the front door?

Yes. Because that’s what the left believes. And if they do, remember what Senator Rolfes said when he introduced the bill: It’s about taking “potentially dangerous, but not necessarily dangerous people” off the island where they were being held as potentially dangerous, and finding out if they’re necessarily dangerous.

If this is not the case, then holistic restorative social justice has triumphed – or as it is now fashionable to say. If they are “necessarily dangerous” and end up behaving accordingly, we probably won’t talk about it. Because that’s how progressive criminal justice reform works: celebrate the wins and ignore the losses, even though the count in the last column adds up much faster than the first.