CALL TO ACTION: Hillsborough County and Pinellas County Probation Officers Sending People on Sex Offender Probation to Camps in Wooded Areas
Major Concerns:
Probation officers in Hillsborough County and Pinellas County are sending people, who are on sex offender probation and have no place to live, to wooded areas to reside.
The probation officers are telling the probationers to “go back there” (into the woods) and remain there until morning.
The probation officers involved and the Florida Department of Corrections claim they do not assign probationers to locations. Translation: They are denying that they are sending these people to these wooded, unsanitary encampments.
Those in the Tampa camps are then told each morning by the Tampa Police Department they cannot live there, making them have to decide whether to risk getting violated by probation because they are not staying where they told them to or getting arrested for trespassing.
We know of one such camp in Pinellas County and several in Hillsborough County.
These camps in Hillsborough County and Pinellas County have no running water, electricity, or sewage. The living conditions are horrible.
Many people are in these camps because of the residency restrictions. Residency restrictions are also causing the clustering problem in Tampa that some Tampa residents are fighting.
PLEASE Do the Following:
Email, call, or send letters through the U.S. Mail to the government leaders in Hillsborough County and Pinellas County to let them know that what is happening to these individuals is inhumane.
Ask family members and friends to also contact these government officials about this atrocity that is occurring in these two counties.
If you choose to share any research with these elected county officials, they are probably told NOT to click on links. Therefore, include a 1- to 2-sentence summary along with the title of the study or article that could be used in a google search. You could also include the link if you choose to do so.
IF YOU SEND AN EMAIL OR LETTER, MAKE SURE THAT IT IS NO LONGER THAN ONE PAGE. YOU CAN CHOOSE TO USE SOME OF THE FOLLOWING TALKING POINTS OR YOU OWN IDEAS. PLEASE DO NOT JUST COPY/PASTE BUT INDIVIDUALIZE YOUR LETTER.
Talking Points:
If you live in Florida but not in Pinellas or Hillsborough Counties, you could mention that you are concerned as a Florida citizen that such inhumane policies are being followed in their communities.
There are tourists that visit these two counties each year. No matter where you live, you feel unsafe traveling to their counties when the elected officials foster such barbaric treatment of their citizens.
Many of these people on probation have family members or friends they can live with, but the residency restrictions make that impossible, forcing them into homelessness. The elected officials of these two counties should contact the Florida Legislature about abolishing the residency restrictions throughout the state.
If writing to Tampa officials, PLEASE mention that the residency restrictions are what is causing the clustering dilemma in their city.
All research shows that for an individual that has been released from prison to reintegrate successfully back into society as a law-abiding citizen, three things are needed: (1) a job; (2) family/community support; and (3) a place to live. Without any one of these three needs being met, it is more difficult to achieve the goal of a successful reintegration, increasing the likelihood of re-offending. Pinellas and Hillsborough are less safe with these individuals being forced into homelessness. Being homeless can cause a person to become desperate just to survive.
ALL research shows that residency restrictions have had no effect on sexual recidivism rates. Polices should be based on empirically-validated research.
The sexual recidivism rate for people with a past sex offense is lower than that for all other crimes, with the exception of murder.
In 93% of sex offenses committed against minors, the child knows the perpetrator (family member, school staff, coaching staff, church staff, etc.) debunking the myth of “stranger danger.”
Research shows that 90+% of FUTURE sex offenses will be committed by people NOT on the sex offender registry.
THERE HAS BEEN NO MENTION OF ANY NEW SEX OFFENSE BEING COMMITTED IN EITHER COUNTY BY ANY OF THE INDIVIDUALS FORCED INTO THESE CAMPS. Isn’t this what society is most concerned about? While these individuals in these camps, who are not committing any sex crimes, are being so closely monitored by law enforcement, what is being done to prevent the future 90+% of sex crimes that will be committed by people who are NOT living in these camps or on the sex offender registry?
Florida Statute 828.13: Any person who…has charge or custody, of any animal to abandon such animal to suffer injury or malnutrition or abandons any animal in a street, road, or public place without providing for the care, sustenance, protection, and shelter of such animal is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in Statute 775.082 or by a fine of not more than $5,000, or by both imprisonment and a fine. Pinellas and Hillsborough are putting the welfare of animals above that of human beings, and this is in the United States of America – not some third-world country. This could possibly be among the most egregious human rights violations in the developed countries of the world.
Contact Information
Please contact the following elected officials to express your concerns and share some of the research. As always, please be respectful in your correspondence with these elected individuals; otherwise, they will not listen to us.
Contact Information for Pinellas County Commissioners:
Commissioner Janet C. Long (Chair): janetclong@pinellas.gov (727) 464-3365
Commissioner Brian Scott: brscott@pinellas.gov (727) 464-3360
Commissioner Charlie Justice: cjustice@pinellas.gov (727) 464-3363
Commissioner Dave Eggers: deggers@pinellas.gov (727) 464-3276
Commissioner Chris Latvala: clatvala@pinellas.gov (727) 464-3278
Commissioner Kathleen Peters: kpeters@pinellas.gov (727) 464-3568
Commissioner Rene Flowers: rflowers@pinellas.gov (727) 464-3614
janetclong@pinellas.gov; brscott@pinellas.gov; cjustice@pinellas.gov; deggers@pinellas.gov; clatvala@pinellas.gov; kpeters@pinellas.gov; rflowers@pinellas.gov
U.S. Mail can be sent to:
315 Court Street
Clearwater, FL 33756
Contact Information for Pinellas Park Mayor and Council Members:
Mayor Sandra Bradbury: sbradbury@pinellas-park.com 727-369-0700
Vice Mayor Patricia Reed: preed@pinellas-park.com 727-369-0700
Council Member Rick Butler: rbutler@pinellas-park.com 727-369-0700
Council Member Keith V. Sabiel: ksabiel@pinellas-park.com 727-369-0700
Council Member Tim Caddell: tcadell@pinellas-park.com 727-369-0700
sbradbury@pinellas-park.com; preed@pinellas-park.com; rbutler@pinellas-park.com; ksabiel@pinellas-park.com; tcadell@pinellas-park.com
U.S. Mail can be sent to:
5141 – 78th Avenue North
Pinellas Park, FL 33781
Contact Information for Hillsborough Commissioners:
To email these commissioners, you will have to fill out a form at:
Commissioner Harry Cohen: (813) 272-5470
Commissioner Ken Hagan (Chair): (813) 272-5452
Commissioner Gwen Myers (Vice Chair): (813)272-5720
Commissioner Michael Owen: (813) 272-5740
Commissioner Donna Cameron Cepeda: (813) 272-5725
Commissioner Pat Kemp: (813) 272-5730
Commissioner Joshua Wostal: (813) 272-5735
U.S. Mail can be sent to:
601 E Kennedy Blvd
Tampa, FL 33602
Contact Information for Tampa Council Members:
Council Member Alan Clendenin: alan.clendenin@tampagov.net 813-274-7072
Council Member Guido Maniscalco: guido.maniscalco@tampagov.net (813) 274-7071
Council Member Lynn Hurtak: Lynn.Hurtak@Tampa.Gov (813) 274-8133
Council Member Bill Carlson: bill.carlson@tampagov.net (813) 274-8134
Council Member Gwendolyn Henderson: gwendolyn.henderson@tampagov.net (813) 274-8189
Council Member Charlie Miranda: charlie.miranda@tampagov.net (813) 274-7074
Council Member Luis Viera: luis.viera@tampagov.net (813) 274-7073
alan.clendenin@tampagov.net; guido.maniscalco@tampagov.net; Lynn.Hurtak@Tampa.Gov; bill.carlson@tampagov.net; gwendolyn.henderson@tampagov.net; charlie.miranda@tampagov.net; luis.viera@tampagov.net
U.S. Mail can be sent to:
315 East Kennedy Blvd
City Hall, 3rd Floor
Tampa, Florida 33602
Some of the research showing residency restrictions are ineffective:
Why Maryland does not have residency restrictions – because evidence shows that residency restrictions do NOT help to prevent sexual offenses from occurring because the victims and the offenders, in most situations, know each other. (Maryland Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services, “Sex Offender Registry FAQs”, see question 15) https://www.dpscs.state.md.us/onlineservs/sor/frequently_asked_questions.shtml
In 2017, the Illinois Task Force reported that research showed that residency restrictions lead neither to reductions in sexual crime nor recidivism. (Illinois December 2017 Sex Offenses & Sex Offender Registration Task Force Final Report, page iv) http://www.icjia.state.il.us/assets/articles/SOTF_report_final_12292017.pdf
“There is no research to support residence restrictions as effective in reducing sexual recidivism. The Minnesota Department of Corrections concluded in one study that ‘during the past 16 years, not one sex offender released from a Minnesota Correctional Facility has been re-incarcerated for a sex offense in which he made contact with a juvenile victim near a school, park, or daycare center close to his home.’” (“Residency Restrictions for Sexual Offenders in Minnesota: False Perceptions for Community Safety”, 2016) MnATSA-Residency-Restrictions-2016.pdf
In 2018, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, sex offender residency restrictions were declared unconstitutional. https://floridaactioncommittee.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/OrderGrantingDefsMotiontoDismiss.pdf
“Residency restrictions have not accomplished the goals that politicians have promised they would but have caused collateral consequences that can actually make society worse off.” (Boston College Journal of Law & Social Justice, “No Place to Call Home: Rethinking Residency Restrictions for Sex Offenders”, Gina Puls) https://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1102&context=jlsj
“Residency restrictions should be abolished.” (Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, Levenson, Leibowitz, and Grady, 2016, “Grand Challenges: Social Justice and the Need for Evidence-Based Sex Offender Registry Reform”, page 22) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304990286_Grand_Challenges_Social_Justice_and_the_Need_for_Evidence-based_Sex_Offender_Registry_Reform)
From the African American Studies Program at the University of South Carolina, “policymakers need to rethink…residency restriction laws and change them to reflect empirical evidence based on the nature of sexual offending…that change could bring about meaningful reductions in homelessness, associated with being a registered sex offender.” (University of South Carolina African American Studies Program, “Sex Offender Residence Restrictions and Homelessness) https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/african_american_studies/about/news/2019/offender.php Actual Study: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0887403419862334
In Broward County, 27.6% of registrants are homeless, and in Miami-Dade, 28.2% are homeless, with residency restrictions being the main obstacle in finding stable housing. OPPAGA-Report-21.pdf (pages 25-26)
Some of the research showing most future sex crimes are committed by people NOT on the registry:
“The majority of empirical studies indicate that those convicted of a sexual offense have no previous sexual offense on their record, and in one instance over 95% of all sexual offense arrests were committed by first-time offenders (Hepburn &Griffin, 2002; Sandler et al, 2008).” See Discussion on page 20. (Journal of Experimental Criminology, Kristen M. Zgoba, Meghan M. Mitchell, 2021, “The effectiveness of Sex Offender Registration and Notification: A meta-analysis of 25 years of findings?”) The effectiveness of Sex Offender Registration and Notification: A meta-analysis of 25 years of findings (floridaactioncommittee.org)
“…most new sexually-based crimes are committed by someone not on the registry. In Ohio in 1999, 92% of those convicted of a sex offense against a child and 93% of those convicted of a sex offense against a teenager were first-time offenders. Most recently, Sandler et al., in their analysis of the effectiveness of Megan’s Law in New York, reported that 96% of all new arrests for sexual crimes occurred among those without previous sexual crime convictions.” (National Library of Medicine, “Sexual Offender Laws and Prevention of Sexual Violence or Recidivism”, Kelly K. Bonnar-Kidd, PhD, 2010) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2820068/:
“Analyses…showed that over 95% of all sexual offense arrests were committed by first-time sex offenders, casting doubt on the ability of laws that target repeat offenders to meaningfully reduce sexual offending.” (“Does a Watched Pot Boil? A Time-Series Analysis of New York State’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Law”, Jeffrey C. Sandler, Naomi J. Freeman, Kelly Michael Socia, 2008) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232505213_Does_a_Watched_Pot_Boil_A_Time-Series_Analysis_of_New_York_State’s_Sex_Offender_Registration_and_Notification_Law
“Almost all (95%) of sex crimes are committed by someone who would not be on the sex offender registry.” (Psychology Today, “Sex Offender Registries”, Elizabeth Jeglic, Ph.D., 2019) https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/protecting-children-sexual-abuse/201908/sex-offender-registries
Some of the research showing that minors know their perpetrators approximately 93% of the time, i.e., they are not strangers:
Ninety-three percent of child victims know their perpetrator. (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, RAINN, “Children and Teens: Statistics”) https://www.rainn.org/statistics/children-and-teens
More than 9 out of 10 sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim. (Bureau of Justice Statistics Study, 2021) https://bjs.ojp.gov/nibrs/reports/sarble/sarble19
Under “Discussion”: “As upwards of ninety percent of victims and offenders know and prey on one another, we need to confront the uncomfortable truth that those who commit sexual offenses are usually not strangers.” (“The Effectiveness of Sex Offender Registration and Notification: A meta-analysis of 25 years of findings”, Kristen Zgoba and Meghan Mitchell, 2021) The effectiveness of Sex Offender Registration and Notification: A meta-analysis of 25 years of findings (floridaactioncommittee.org)
” Concerning kidnapping and child sex trafficking, ‘stranger danger’ is usually not a factor in the equation. Kids are virtually never grabbed off the street and pulled into an unmarked van.” (SocialMiami.com, “Senator Lauren Book: Masks Do Not Increase Kidnapping Risk”, Lauren Book) https://socialmiami.com/senator-lauren-book-masks-do-not-increase-kidnapping-risk-for-children
Additional research can be found at:
https://floridaactioncommittee.org/press/articles-and-studies-containing-research/
This happens in Orange County, too. When a homeless PFR is released from jail, OCSO sex crimes “surveillance unit” detectives or other deputies will give a “courtesy ride” to various wooded areas of the county.
This is happening all across Florida. Miami-Dade has just made it in the news more. They need to hold a protest at the state capital.
Dammed if you do,and Dammed if you don’t, sounds like the same situation there was In Miami….
Same thing I said in another post earlier today. They set us up to fail and send us like mice to cheese on a mouse trap. Some give up and choose to get sent back to Prison as at least they know what to expect there. The food is not great, but you know you will get three meals a day, a shower, toothpaste and basic health care.
Proverbs 29:7
A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge.
This is happening in Suwannee County also (2500 feet). There are offenders living in the woods. My brother-in-law has submitted over 50 addresses. Two were accepted. However it takes several days to get an answer if an address is acceptable or not and by that time the property is under contract. The detective who checks addresses doesn’t even have access to the data base. He has to send the addresses to the school board and wait for them to return an answer. This has been going on for a year. He and my sister are 84 and 81 and both have serious health issues. They moved to Suwannee County to be close to their kids because they need their help. Because the house they bought is 800 feet too close to a bus stop he is forced to live in a hotel 26 miles away at a cost of $1,890 a month. My poor sister is alone most days and nights out in the boonies because the gas to go back and for only allows her husband to visit once or twice a week. The absurdity of it all is he can be at that house all day when kids are picked up for school and when they are dropped off but he can’t be there from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am. There is no rational basis for these residency restrictions.
Please send your story to legislators in Tallahassee. If enough of us begin to tell our stories, our legislators might be willing to make some changes in the statutes. Remember, the current legislators were not the ones who passed most of these insane laws and have no idea what laws were passed long before they got in office. Let’s educate them.
Thank you for posting that. I have been thinking this about our situation in Suwannee County. The commissioners who created these residency laws in 2004 are not the same ones in office in 2023. I am working on letters to send to them.
Restoration Outreach is housing homeless sex offenders. Go to their blog rousahome.blogspot.com.
I thought Michigan eliminated its residency restrictions.
There are no residency restrictions in Michigan. Suwannee County is in Florida.
Maybe I am grandfathered in but the bus stop literally stops so close to my house, I could walk to the bus in 5 seconds. I told a neighbor once, you do not like the bus stopping next to my house, but it is ok to let the kids play in my yard and tear up our grass when they are not in school. lol
Polk county is the same , tell you to go somewhere until the owner of the property finds out then the sheriffs are called this has happened a couple times that I know of. But if you got family that will help you pay or you have a job so you can pay. Then they send you to an ex- probation officer who has bought a lot of property’s that meet the registration requirements she rents out half a room for $ 500.00 to $ 600.00 per month so in a 3 bedroom she may have 6 people there all paying the $ 500 to $ 600 each. When I started looking into it I was told she had over 100 such properties she ran. And one of the rules in the contract you sighn with her is you are not allowed to speak to the media for any reason without permission from her. Not supposed to talk about her or they’re little money making scam to no one. Then there is also the fact that you can’t pick your roommate. But if they get busted for something you get arrested to because they say you had to know what they were doing .
Sounds like the classic “Benefitting off of the misfortunes of others”.
This was very well put together. This should be posted where it can be referred to at any time. If it remains on this post it will be lost and forgotten in the coming weeks.
Thank you to whoever put this post together. It was a job very well done.
It will stay pinned to the top until it is no longer needed or needs to be revised.
Thank you for the encouraging words.
Someone please explain to me how this is not a human rights violation.
For some reason, FAC deleted my post without notifying me of anything that was wrong. I was just trying to be helpful by pointing out the new jury instructions from the 11th Circuit regarding the “crime” of violating Florida’s residency restrictions. I guess everyone can just Google the new jury instructions like I did to find out that many people do not qualify for said restrictions.
It has not been deleted.
Look under legislative delegation meetings pinned under the Call to Action post.