Homeless sex offenders: Loophole in the law

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - Ohio laws are giving sex offenders a free pass to disappear in your community. Local leaders argue the law allows offenders to register as homeless rather than give an exact address where they live lets them off the hook.

By not giving an address, notification cards cannot be sent out to the community and it is difficult for authorities to monitor the offenders’ whereabouts.

Currently, there are 1,000 registered sex offenders living in Montgomery County, of them, 55 reported that they were homeless.

"It's hard to track it and it's hard to verify that they are doing the right thing," said Bill Taylor, a Senior Inspector with the United States Marshals Service.

Taylor is in charge of the Marshals' sex offender investigations branch. He only intervenes when offenders cross state lines, but thinks Ohio's law is far from perfect.

"It frustrates me to no end. I want to know where they are," he added.

Other local leaders agreed.

At one time, there were six sex offenders registered as homeless in Miami County. That may not sound like a lot, but because it's a predominately rural area, the number was alarming to officials.

As a result, the Miami County Sheriff's Office decided to require homeless offenders to check in every day.

"We believe that the statute requires them to notify us when they change address. So, if they change address daily, they are required to notify us," explained Chief Deputy Dave Duchek. "If they fail to do that, then they are in violation of the statute".

Since implementing the new requirements, the number of sex offenders registering as homeless in Miami County has dropped to just one.

Chief Deputy Duchek called the strict reporting requirements effective, and in his opinion, well-within the law.

"There's some debate with the current statute of whether we can require them to come daily. We believe we can, but it's not clearly spelled out in the statute," added Duchek.

The "gray area" in the current law allows for open interpretation from county-to-county.

Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck does not think adding extra reporting requirements would hold up in the court of law.

"I don't think they can require additional (reporting requirements) and I really don't know when you get down to it, if any county really makes anyone report more than they are legally obligated to report," he said.

However, Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer told 2 NEWS at one time his office was requiring homeless sex offenders to register every day, but prosecutors instructed them to stop because it was unconstitutional.

It was a decision Plummer said he did not agree with and would like to change.

"I think if they are homeless, they need to register every day," said Sheriff Plummer. "We need to know exactly where they are and where they are staying. If it's an inconvenience for them, then do it right, claim a residence. Then we can notify your neighbors that you are truly living there".

Plummer said it is a loophole in the law that needs to be addressed. He would like to see state-wide legislation that tightens the reigns on offenders who register as homeless.

"What I am going to do is check with the Attorney General and see if there is a ruling on that," he added. "If not, then I am going to get with the legislators and get the law passed, get it changed in our favor.”