Springfield police officer says sexually oriented offender being harassed
SPRINGFIELD TWP. - Michael Harig is a child molester. The two large signs on his neighbor's lawn tell you so in bright bold, red letters.
So does a third sign, equally imposing and written in the same red paint, placed on a lawn two doors down.
And just in case Harig is feeling lonely in his Gregory Drive home, his neighbor put a ``Welcome Home Child Molester'' sign on their adjoining backyard fence.
But it isn't Harig who concerns Springfield police. To officers, he's a victim.
It is his neighbor, 50-year-old James Cody, who officers say is harassing Harig, not only with the imposing signs, but also with threats and his unfounded claims of more sexual abuse.
It wasn't always this way between Cody and Harig, who moved in after his release from prison just more than three years ago. But ever since Cody saw a 16-year-old boy alone with Harig, the one-sided feud hasn't stopped boiling.
``I just wish there was more we could do for Mr. Harig because he's being harassed and he's in fear for his life, there's no doubt about that,'' said police Sgt. Denise Johnstonbaugh. ``The fact is, he did his time and he should be able to go on with his life.''
That isn't how Cody sees it.
In an interview Friday, Cody said he's known about his neighbor's past ever since Harig moved in. It was in 2004, just after Harig was released from prison after nearly a year of a four-year sentence for fondling three boys, ages 12, 13 and 14.
Two rules for neighbor
Cody, who also served a brief prison stint in 1981 on weapons charges, told his new neighbor that he would be watching his every move. He and his wife, Sharon Hall, also conducted their own research into Harig's crimes.
``I said we'll wipe the slate clean and hopefully you'll be a better person for this. I was real nice to this man, even though I didn't want to be,'' Cody said. ``I just told him: Mike, never lock your doors and never have a youngster over there.
