IN - Motel home to city’s largest sex offender cluster

Original Article

And now, because of the vigilante media, I'm sure the mob will come out in force and force these people from their only home, which was probably the goal in the first place.

02/18/2012

By Alex Campbell

Sean James Haley knocks on the motel room door at a little past 11 o’clock on a Monday night.

“How we doing, guys?”

Then Haley steps inside and notices a stranger in the room. His tone quickly changes.

“What’s going on? What have you got in here? When did you come in? What is this?”

It might seem odd for a motel manager to knock on doors and pepper his guests with such questions. But the back building at the King’s Inn has its own set of rules, because the back building at the King’s Inn has its own set of guests. Guests who aren’t allowed in the front two buildings. Guests who can’t bring visitors to the back without Haley’s approval.

Sex offenders.

The King’s Inn, a $29-to-$39-a-night motel on the Eastside, serves as a last resort for sex offenders on parole who otherwise have nowhere else to go. Under a program called DOC Assist, the Department of Corrections pays rent for the offenders for a few weeks or months, theoretically until they can support themselves.

The result is that the King’s Inn is home to the largest concentration of sex offenders in Marion County — outside of the jail.

According to the county’s online registry — which an Indianapolis Star review has found to be out of date in a number of places — 61 registered sex offenders call the King’s Inn their home.

Haley says the actual number fluctuates, but is generally about 30.

The King’s Inn might be the largest concentration, but it’s far from the only one.

The Star’s analysis of the registry — based on records culled from a single day in January — found that there are at least 17 city blocks in Indianapolis where five or more sex offenders live. At least seven specific addresses have 10 or more offenders listed as living there.

Handfuls of offenders live in smaller apartment buildings, such as one two-story complex on the southeastside with a sign outside that reads “ADULTS ONLY.” But the more offenders that live in one spot, the likelier the address is to be a halfway house, cheap motel or downtown high-rise.

The address with the second-most listed offenders is a tall brick apartment building on 13th and North Meridian Street. The third most are listed at Brandon Hall, a 24-hour supervision work-release home at 611 N Capitol Ave.

“Clustering,” as it is called, is a national phenomenon that experts say is an “unintended consequence” of state laws that limit where offenders can live.
- This is what you get when politicians let emotions get in the way, they don't think, and people suffer for it.

Indiana’s version, Zachary’s Law, went into effect in 1994 and has been amended a number of times since. It prevents registered “offenders against children” from living within 1,000 feet of a school, youth program center or public park.
- I don't know the law in Indiana, but I'm sure it's not just "offenders against children," but all offenders.

Parole restrictions go much further, with blanket provisions for all parolees released from prison for a sex offense. The stipulations rule out any registered sex offender living within 1,000 feet of “public swimming pools, public beaches, theaters, or any other place where children can reasonably be expected to congregate” — regardless of whether the offender’s conviction had to do with children.

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