Implementation of “the strongest and toughest [sex offender] monitoring, verification and enforcement program in the nation” is now underway in Suffolk County, according to County Executive Steve Bellone, who called a press conference yesterday at Suffolk Police Headquarters in Yaphank to announce the recent arrests of eight registered sex offenders thanks to the stepped up enforcement program.
The Community Protection Act, unanimously adopted by the Suffolk County legislature in February, established a program for monitoring, verification and enforcement measures for convicted sex offenders required to register their addresses with local law enforcement agencies. Bellone proposed the measure after examining the county’s existing policies regarding emergency housing for the county’s approximately three dozen homeless sex offenders.
The county executive had pledged last May to close the two trailers — one in Riverside at the county jail and the other on county-owned land in Westhampton — which have been used by the county social services department as emergency housing for homeless registered offenders.
Early in 2013, Bellone announced that he wanted a more comprehensive policy and had tasked the county’s police department with developing and overseeing its implementation.
“We are focusing on the more than 1,000 sex offenders who reside in this county ever single day, not just on the 3 or 4 percent, the handful, of sex offenders who may require emergency housing on any given night,” Bellone said at the press conference.
Asked yesterday for an update on the timeframe when asked about the status of closing the homeless sex offender trailers located in Riverside and Westhampton, Bellone said he had “nothing new to report.”
Bellone has called another press conference for 2 p.m. Friday afternoon at Riverhead Town Hall.
Resources required to enforce the new law will be funded by money originally allocated to the building and staffing of multiple sex offender facilities throughout the county, each facility housing multiple offenders, Bellone said. The Community Protection Act will come at a lower cost to the county than the original plan for sex offender facilities, he said.
“The message is loud and clear,” regarding the arrest of eight sex offenders during only the first few days of enforcing the Community Protection Act, Bellone said.
“If you are a sex offender living in Suffolk County, you better tow the line or you will end up back in prison.”
Of the eight people arrested, four of them, Lawrence Lindlau, of Bay Shore, Kevin Griffin, Kevin Stannard and Christopher Phillips were arrested for failing to have their photo taken. Terrance Carter was arrested for participating in computer activity involving sexually stimulating material, Lawrence Greene, of Central Islip, for failing to register a change of address, Robert White, of Bay Shore, for a vehicle and traffic law warrant and Brian Riley, of Amityville, for failing to report for his 90-day appearance.
A group of registered sex offenders have brought a federal lawsuit against Suffolk County seeking to overturn the Community Protection Act as well as county and town codes that place residency restrictions on registered offenders, which the plaintiffs argue make it impossible for them to find housing.
The county executive said if registered sex offenders don’t want more monitoring, verification and enforcement, “thats too bad.”
Photo caption: County Executive Steve Bellone, right, with Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan’s Law, at the May 23 press conference in Yaphank.
RiverheadLOCAL photo by Emil Breitenbach Jr.
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