Chester the Molester Moves In

It's like a scene right out of Tom Perrotta's book Little Children.

A convicted child molester has just moved into my neighborhood.

Except this is not fiction. This is real.

A registered sex offender who has spent the past 11 years in prison has just moved into a house owned by his elderly parents. The house is located diagonally across the street from my house, and approximately 100 yards from the school bus stop at which more than a dozen children congregate twice a day for most of the year.

I learned about my new neighbor by word of mouth from other concerned (read: PANICKED) parents in my neighborhood.

In an email to my state's sex offender registry last night, I posed the obvious question: Why weren't neighbors officially notified that a convicted sex offender had moved into the neighborhood?

I won't hold my breath waiting for their response. But I won't sleep either.

My neighborhood is all about children. Children on bikes and scooters. Children setting up lemonade stands. Children climbing trees. Children catching butterflies or playing kickball.

Come September, these very same children will parade up and down the street twice a day on their way to and from the school bus stop, in full view, as it turns out, of a convicted sex offender.

I'm not feeling very neighborly.

I guess it comes down to rights. What are my rights as a tax-paying, law-abiding citizen? And what are the rights of a convicted sex criminal upon his release?

Do I have the right, for example, to knock on this man's door and threaten to inflict bodily harm if he so much as glances in the direction of a child? Probably not.

Do I have the right to rally my local community and put our unofficial neighborhood watch on high alert? Do I have the right to print up and distribute fliers with information that is a matter of public record? Do I have the right to knock on this man's door and introduce myself as Lorena Bobbitt's far more ruthless twin?

Yeah. Probably so.

Look, I know people make mistakes. And I know it's possible for yesterday's [fill in the blank] thief, drug dealer, murderer, or addict to turn over a new leaf, find Jesus, be rehabilitated, and spend the rest of his or her life as a productive, law-abiding citizen in the community.

But let's face it. The recidivism or relapse rate for people who hurt children, for people who commit sexual assaults on minors, is high.

And this man, my shiny new neighbor, committed his sexual assault crimes against a minor at the age of 41. Am I to believe that now, 11 years of prison later at the age of 52, he has been rehabilitated?

I'm sure his frail, elderly parents hope so. I'm sure they've agonized about their decision to give their adult son another chance. I'm sure they could really use the help around the house. It's tough getting old. Maybe they feel as if they owe it to him, their son, and this is his chance to do good?

All I know is that I don't owe this man anything. And based on his criminal history alone, I don't trust him. I don't trust him around my children, my neighbors' children, or children in my community.

I don't trust the idea of him. Not as my neighbor. Not as anyone's neighbor.

And frankly, I don't know what to do about it.

Suffice it to say, if I thought it was "Ruthless in the Suburbs" before - what with competitions for best-dressed at the grocery store or who has the greenest lawn - then I ain't seen nothing yet.

THIS JUST IN...
Here's "the word" from the CT State Sex Offender Registry:

Thank you for your concern. The web-site serves as notification to let you and your neighbors know that there is a sex offender on your street and in your neighborhood. In addition currently there are no state laws that restrict where an offender can live. You may want to contact the school system and inquire as to possibly changing the school bus stop. The web-site and more specifically the Registry is a tool for parents and all to use to help keep everyone safe.

Hey thanks, Detective. I will most certainly be contacting the school system, the local police department, the bus company, my state legislators, and the media as a means of effecting change and "keeping everyone safe."

Especially because I have just learned that my new neighbor has been living alone in the house for the past two (2) months.