A bunch of angry residents gathered in Altadena to complain about a group home for sex offenders that appeared in their neighborhood, almost overnight.
The gathering Tuesday night was attended by several hundred who want something done. They were told by state and local officials that not much can be done… it’s too late.
Here’ s an excerpt from a story by Elise Kleeman that will appear in tomorrow’s Star-News:
The six men living in a single-family home on Risinghill Road range in age from 28 to 56. Four of them were convicted of lewd or lascivious acts with a child younger than 14, including one man who used force and another who sodomized his victim. The others were found guilty of rape by force or fear, with one also convicted of sexual battery.
All are parolees, released early from their terms in state prison and placed in the home by the Pasadena parole office, said Los Angeles County sheriffs Detective Ruby Munshi. They are wearing GPS tracking ankle bracelets, she said.
Theres so many children in that area, its just terrifying, said Dennis Bridwell, who lives four houses away. Ive spoken to so many people that have taken their kids drawings out of the windows. Anything that shows there are children there, theyve hidden them.
One neighbor who lives about a block and a half down the road said Monday that she longer walks to her friends house two blocks away.
To us, this is just a disaster, said the woman, who asked to remain anonymous because she feared for her safety. We just feel really put upon, just that they haven’t given us any warning. This is horribly negligent.
At the meeting, one husband talked of being afraid to his their wife home alone, a tearful mother said she was no longer able to sleep at night because of her concern for her child and another resident decried the facility as a revolving door for parolees, making them difficult to keep track of.
The community learned of their new neighbors when one Meadows resident happened to check the state-run Megans Law Web-site. Neither nearby Loma Alta Park nor Odyssey Charter School officials were notified of the new group home, the neighbors said.
Everyone associated with sneaking this house into our neighborhood is an embarrassment to their profession. Thanks to all involved for putting 6 career criminals in a secluded area full of families. Good thinking on that front. There is one road up to this neighborhood and it goes past a park and a couple schools…and so do the 6 men, everyday.
Everyone associated with sneaking this house into our neighborhood is an embarrassment to their profession. Thanks to all involved for putting 6 career criminals in a secluded area full of families. Good thinking on that front. There is one road up to this neighborhood and it goes past a park and a couple schools…and so do the 6 men, everyday.
There is so much missing from this story.
That elaborate looking clown house popped up in the neighborhood “almost overnight”? How did it get erected that fast? That thing looks detailed. And didn’t anybody notice this and at least think, “What the…”?
And why a clown house?
What drove these 6 offenders to decide to all live together in a “single-family clown house”? Er…a single family clown house?? Just say that again.
WHY is it “too late” for officials to do anything about it? When was the deadline? If this thing was erected “almost overnight” then, what, the complaint to officials needed to be made WHILE it was being erected??
Hey, at least they are living in a house that clearly scares away children. Clowns are pretty much universally feared by almost all children, so this should serve as a decent warning to anyone living in the area.
The bigger question is, why is it presumed that these people are still a danger to society? They have been fitted with tracking devices. Who cares where they live? These neighbors make it seem like criminals, for some reason, have no idea how to GET IN A CAR AND DRIVE TO ANOTHER NEIGHBORHOOD. How do you know you aren’t already infested with child molesting, non-GPS-wearing, not-yet-arrested molesters who are visiting your neighborhood today, huh?
What about the sex offenders who have slipped through the system or haven’t been caught? At least these sickos are being monitored. Doesn’t anyone realize there are perverts and creeps living right next door and they’re not on any list. Also, no one seemed to care until someone just happened to notice on the sex offender website. No list, no knowledge. It seems that people only care for their safety only after somebody else tells them they’re in danger. Everybody’s in danger all the time. How many murderers, armed robbers, child abusers and wife beaters live in your neighborhood? No one has a clue. Does that mean they don’t exist or does everyone think they just don’t exist in their city? Hello, been to Monrovia lately? PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN ALL THE TIME, not after someone tells you their in danger, then it’s too late.
You make a good point, Tim K.
“How do you know you aren’t already infested with child molesting, non-GPS-wearing, not-yet-arrested molesters who are visiting your neighborhood”
I just can’t help but be reminded of the beautiful and ornate buildings that housed a few unsavory, unmonitored priests. Also, I think the stats will bear me out–most molestations are by people the victim knows or is related to, however, those particular instances are the least reported.
There is a guy in the neighborhood that is a registered Sex Offender, that is not listed under the community in which we live, he is listed as living in Los Angeles. He lives next door to little girls, and across the screet from little boys.
It was brought up to a Neighborhood Watch officer from the Sheriff’s dept. and nothing was ever done.
In answer to a few comments above: the house was not built – it was a rental that had been sitting empty for a while, then these people suddenly moved in. As for the comment about ‘getting in their cars and driving to another neigbhorhood’ – the men do not have cars – they walk everywhere. they have to, there is no public transportation in the meadows.