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Offender’s Home Vandalized

Hummm, no comment from police that, those who did this will be prosecuted. Guess we know where police stand.

10-25-2013 Iowa:

A convicted sex offender moved into the small Marshall County town of Liscomb and quickly learned he was not welcome.

Donald Liger was greeted with smashed windows and the word “Pedophile” spray-painted on his garage. “We got spray paint on our garage last night around midnight. And the window got broken,” Liger said, pointing to the damage.

We couldn’t find any neighbors who admitted to doing this but we also couldn’t find any who felt bad about it.

“For the simple fact what’s on his garage lets everybody know who he is, where he lives,” says neighbor Joe Robinson. “I don’t know. I’m not upset about it.”

“If it’s true they got what came to them,” adds neighbor Alex Draft. “I live right over here and I got a younger sibling, she’s about 14 years old and she’s kinda been scared to come out here lately.”

Police understand the neighbors’ frustration. Afterall, Liger molested a five year old girl back in 2005. But authorities say he did his time and he has to live somewhere.

“The bottom line is these individuals are in our society,” says Marshall County Sheriff Ted Kamatchus. “We can’t victimize those people based on something that they’re legally doing.”

Liger’s wife, Sharon, says the couple just wants to live at the home in peace, “We just want to be left alone so we can live our life without all the hassles that they give to pedophiles and stuff.”

Neighbors say they know the Ligers have to live somewhere just not in their town.

“It makes my gut wrench,” Robinson says glancing at the Ligers on their front porch. “Especially to watch him sit there watching those kids. Is it going to continue? I don’t want him to be here to continue.”

Police say Liger could face charges for failing to report his change of address. ..Source.. by Aaron Brilbeck

Lincoln Park neighbors say: ‘We don’t want you here

8-24-2009 Minnesota:

A Lincoln Park house serves as a transitional shelter for sex offenders recently released from prison. Residents want them out of their neighborhood.

James Kwako and Isabelle Gortichan say kids often run around in their Lincoln Park neighborhood, playing tag or catch, and they walk to school a few blocks away. Their 3-year-old daughter often swims in a small pool in their front yard.

But they say they watch her extra closely and feel like they can never take their eyes off her.

That’s because a house a half-block away has been contracted out by the Minnesota Department of Corrections to use as a transitional shelter for, among other people, a steady stream of Level III sex offenders recently released from prison. Those in the Level III category are considered most likely to re-offend.

Two men categorized as Level III sex offenders were listed on the mailbox late last week as living at the home.

“Our daughter is never allowed outside without us,” Kwako said.

“It creeps me out,” Gortichan said. “When my daughter is in the swimming pool, I keep wondering: ‘Is somebody watching her?’ ”

The Lincoln Park house is the only one of its kind in Duluth and one of only seven in the state, according to the Department of Corrections. The homes typically house up to four male offenders at a time, and on average about one-fourth of the residents are sex offenders, said Gary Johnson, the re-entry services director and housing program manager for the Department of Corrections.

The rest usually are violent offenders convicted of person-related crimes such as assault and robbery, he said.

Because of the nature of their past crimes, the men are on what Johnson described as intensive supervised release, which includes curfews, no visitors allowed to the house, and at least four visits a week by a probation officer.

The men are there because they would have nowhere else to live after being released from prison, Johnson said. If they were homeless they would be much more difficult to monitor, he said.

“All of the people that leave our prisons are going somewhere,” Johnson said. “They either have nowhere to live and roam the community, or we have this resource for them.”

Home Endangers residents?

Though none of the neighbors interviewed for this story said they’ve ever had problems with men living at the house at 216 N. 22nd Ave. W., many said they don’t like having the home there.

“We don’t want it. We’ve had a family-oriented neighborhood for years,” said one resident who asked that her name not be used for fear of retaliation. “You just never know what they’ll do. Who knows?”

Residents at the house, owned by Katherine Hamilton of Duluth, declined to be interviewed, saying they were told by state officials not to talk to the media.

Hamilton said neighborhood residents shouldn’t be concerned.

“I’ve never had any problems with any of them,” said Hamilton, who lives in Duluth Heights. “I don’t think they’re a threat while they’re there.”

Offenders being released from prison have to live somewhere and learn to integrate back into society, she argued. And they’re being watched by police, probation officers and even people in the neighborhood.

Before she began renting the home to the Department of Corrections, Hamilton said, she had more problems with previous tenants trashing the house.

Duluth police said calls to the house have not been a problem. Of the eight calls for service at the home this year, three have been medical calls, four have been to assist on probation checks, and one was for a probation violation arrest.

“It does not show up on my radar screen as being a problem,” said Scott Drewlo, the Duluth police lieutenant of major crimes.

Residents not told

But what worries residents is the potential for problems.

“It’s an inappropriate use of the property and endangers residents nearby,” said Duluth City Councilor Gary Eckenberg, who lives seven blocks from the home.

The home also explains a growing belief that more Level III sex offenders move into Lincoln Park than any other neighborhood in the city, Eckenberg said.

Of the 34 sex offenders who have moved into Duluth since 1996, when the state began making the names public of released Level III sex offenders, 17 have moved into the Central Hillside or downtown and 11 have moved into Lincoln Park, according to News Tribune archives.

But of the 11 sex offenders currently registered as living in the city, seven live in Lincoln Park, including the two at the home.

“I think it’s an outrage,” said Micki Ziesmer, who lives with her 2-year-old son in the neighborhood and said she didn’t know about the house before being told by the News Tribune. “They live close to a school, close to a Boys and Girls club. … I think it should be public information. They should send out flyers.”

Eckenberg agrees, saying that there’s no direct supervision or monitoring inside the home; probation authorities have told him they rely on the community to monitor the house, he said.

Johnson of the corrections department said monitoring the house is not up to residents but to probation officers and police.

But neighbors will be watching anyway.

“There are kids walking around here all the time without parents,” said Lori Anderson, who has lived in the neighborhood for seven years. “I think this is a big problem.” ..Source.. by Brandon Stahl, Duluth News Tribune

Controversial sign may have led to car arson

1-8-2008 Virginia:

Norfolk fire investigators believe a fire caught on home video is the work of an arsonist. Those living in the neighborhood where the car was set on fire wonder if a controversial sign led to the car being torched.

We first told you about the controversial sign last week. It was a sign reading: "No sex offenders and no illegals." The sign was put up in the front of a home on Sheppard Avenue in Norfolk, and the landlord that put it there says he had every right to post it.

Early Monday morning, neighbors grabbed their video cameras to capture the glow coming from a car on fire.

"I don't know if they're malicious," said Norfolk's, Minton Owens. "I don't know if they just want to prove a point."

Minton Owens, the landlord who posted the sign, heard the explosion and ran to his window. The car's now gone, but shattered glass and other parts still remain where the car once stood.

Plan for sex offender center scuttled by death threat

5-1-2008 Oklahoma:

SHAWNEE — A woman who planned to open a treatment center for sex offenders said she's decided not to open shop after receiving a death threat.

Holly Chandler has been under fire since residents around 1401 Highland discovered she was remodeling a former mechanics shop at that address into a counseling center for sex offenders.

She told The Oklahoman two weeks ago she planned to sell the building, but would use it until it sold. She has since changed her mind.

"I got an anonymous threat on my cell phone from a man who said if I stepped in that building, the building would burn with me in it," Chandler said. "I don't need to get hit in the head with a brick to realize the danger."

The building has been a target for vandals. Chandler said it's been shot at, windows have been broken and obscenities have been spray painted on its exterior.

Chandler said her clients are afraid to attend classes there.

"I never meant to cause a panic, but that's what this whole thing has turned into," Chandler said.

"My mission has always been to treat sex offenders as a means of keeping a community safe," she said.

Chandler said there are 99 registered sex offenders in Shawnee and 15 live in the neighborhood where complaints about her business have surfaced.

She said she is now looking to purchase a secluded piece of property outside city limits.

Chandler said the treatment sessions are for fewer that a dozen low-level sex offenders and last for one hour, once a week. She said she's been having the classes for about 10 years at various locations in Shawnee with no complaints. She has classes in 23 counties. ..more.. by Ann Kelley

Police investigating Meeker attack

2-29-2008 Oklahoma:

CHANDLER — Anthony Mayfield's kidnappers beat him, dragged him by a rope tied around his genitals and injected him with methamphetamine, according to an affidavit filed Wednesday in Lincoln County court.

Five people are charged with felony kidnapping and misdemeanor assault and battery in the alleged Feb. 19 attack — a bizarre case that may involve sex, lies and vigilante justice.

According to the affidavit:
•Mayfield, 37, was accused by his attackers of "being sexually inappropriate" with two girls.

•Kenneth Alan Cowan, 40, and four others confronted Mayfield and took him to a house in Meeker.

•The group accused Mayfield of molestation, "beat him, tied a rope around his genitals and gave him an unknown number of injections.”

•After more than 14 hours, Mayfield was cleaned up and dropped off at Unity Hospital in Shawnee. He was treated for bruises on his head, face and body and released that day.

•During an initial meeting with police on Feb. 22, Mayfield said he was beaten "somewhere in downtown Shawnee” and "an anonymous person” took him to the hospital. Later that day, Mayfield identified Cowan and others and told police that he was accused of molestation and beaten.

•At least one of the girls told law officers she had not been molested by Mayfield.

Some arrests made

Cowan; his wife, Rebecca Ruth Cowan, 42; their son, Brian Wayne Cowan, 18, all of Meeker; Sonya Mae Bull, 27, of Shawnee; and a man identified in the affidavit only as "Ed” face charges in the case.

The Cowans were arrested and have been released from the Lincoln County jail on bail. Bull and "Ed” were still at-large Thursday.

Leann Paczkowski, Lincoln County assistant district attorney, said Thursday she could "neither confirm nor deny” whether the girls had been molested. Despite the affidavit, she said the motive for Mayfield's beating has not been determined.

"I'd prefer not to talk about that because nothing has been confirmed,” she said. "I'd hate to compromise the investigation.”

John Tice, Lincoln County sheriff's deputy, said Meeker police still are investigating, and additional complaints could be forwarded to the district attorney's office in the next few days. ..more.. by Staff Writer Ken Raymond

Justin Vangilder 'wanted to inflict as much harm as possible'

10-4-2013 Illinois:

SHILOH, Ill. (KSDK) - According to a criminal complaint filed by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, 23-year-old Justin Vangilder was suicidal and delusional and wanted to kill as many child molesters as he could.

Authorities with the FBI, the Illinois State Police Hazardous Device Unit, and the Shiloh Police Department converged on Vangilder's Shiloh home Thursday around 2 p.m. Inside, they found three pipe bombs in a brief case, shotgun shells, and a bag full of razors, screws, shrapnel, and propane cylinders.

A source from Scott Air force Base visited Vangilder Wednesday night and saw the devices. The next day he reported it to the Office of Special Investigations of the United States Air Force. Within hours, the FBI and local law enforcement took action.

According to U.S. Attorney Steve Wigginton, "These devices were very dangerous and could have caused mass casualties."

Vangilder allegedly told the confidential witness that he was suicidal and had fantasies of killing child molesters and that he had detailed personal information of sex offenders in the local area. He also said he was disappointed in his parents for not supporting him during his recent divorce.

According to the complaint, Vangilder waived his right to an attorney and confessed to possessing three pipe bombs. If convicted, he faces up to ten years in a federal prison.

Vangilder is a senior airman at Scott AFB. That is actually a junior ranking with not more than four years of service. ..Source.. by Leisa Zigman SEE ALSO: HERE

Fake Sex Offender Fliers Issued In Cedar Hills

What we have here is, the use of the "Sex Offender Stigma," applying it to someone who is NOT a sex offender. Posibly some sort of revenge for a personal dispute. The fact that someone was able to reproduce the normal flier with erroneous information, proves that such fliers should not be used without foplks receiving them from an official source (handed out or a letter from the local police, etc.). Secondary distribution of sex offender information, even when erroneous, should be prohibited lest it lead to another situation as occurred in Florida.

7-11-2008 Oregon:

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Washington County deputies are trying to find out who is responsible for distributing fake sex offender fliers to people in a Portland neighborhood.

Deputies said the notices named a man who not only has never been listed as a sex offender, but has never committed a crime.

The fliers were distributed to homes in the Cedar Hills area of Portland.

Deputies said the notifications weren't created by a Washington County official and the information in the fliers is false. They also said criminal charges will be considered against the person or people who distributed the fliers.

The name of the victim in the case isn't being released.

The notices were distributed on the night of June 29 and the early morning of June 30. They appeared to be printed on Washington County letterhead and read:

"For the public safety and future security of residents, Washington County is notifying all neighborhoods of resident sex offenders. Hereby, a sexual predator, under the name of: [ name removed ] rents in this vicinity. (Region: [ removed ] )

The exact address will not be given due to extraneous circumstances protecting the individual's right to privacy. A press release, 7/28/2008, will be publiczed and televised notifying neighborhood offenders in all outlying areas.

For more information, contact the Washington County Community Corrections Department (WCCC) at 503-846-3400 or visit our website: www.co.washington.or.us/ or fax us at 503-846-8951."

Detectives are asking anyone with information on who distributed the flyers to call 503-846-2704. ..News Source.. by KPTV.com.

Rape Suspect Sets Fire to Escape Angry Neighbors

6-1-2008 Texas:

The mother of the girl who Jeremy Dontae Craft is accused of punching in the face and sexually assaulting spotted him ambling down a Fort Worth street on Thurs.

She began chasing him and was soon joined by a host of other citizens, who collectively chased him into the Prima Vera apartment complex on E. Berry St.

Apparently Craft, holed up in an apartment, set fire to a mattress to create a diversion and then escaped through a side window. ..News Source.. by MyFox Dallas

Woman Gets 5 Years for Branding Ex-Lover Over Failure to Phone

6-16-2008 New York:

A New York college student who branded a former lover's body with a scalding piece of metal as payback for never calling her after they had sex was sentenced to five years in prison Friday.

Kristina Caban, 23, had no comment as state Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus sentenced her for what he called a crime that was "not remotely justifiable."

Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg told Obus that Caban was the "mastermind behind the plan" to sear the torso of Samir "Sammy" Sara, then 23, for having sex with her once in 2004 and never calling her again.

Caban enlisted new boyfriend Robert Testagrossa to help brand a four-inch-high "R" on Sara's abdomen in October 2006, the prosecutor said. She said Caban lured the former lover to a hotel room, where Testagrossa and another man grabbed him.

Phone Call Alarms Sheriff's Office

11-7-2008 Texas:

EL PASO COUNTY - The call sounds official, "This is Terry Wagner with the El Paso County Sheriff's Department, and here as a courtesy call to remind you that there is a sex offender on your block from Nevada." The only problem - the Sheriff's Office is not making the calls and there is no sex offender in the neighborhood.

"It's crazy, I mean I can't quite recognize the voice," says Mike Lamendola, the alleged sex offender referred to in the call. "I don't like that at all and if I find out who's doing it I will take them to court for defamation." We checked his criminal record and he's doesn't have a sex crime record.

Lamendola heard the message for the first time when NEWSCHANNEL 13 played it for him. "It's not fair to me, I just moved here and labeled as a sex offender or something like that, it's just not fair," says Lamendola.

Attacks on sex offenders may be connected

11-11-2008 California:

Police say two registered sex offenders living in Mountain View have been targeted for attack in recent weeks, apparently by someone who wants to punish them for their crimes.

In the first incident, a sex offender's home was nearly set on fire by a Molotov cocktail on Oct. 19 before a passerby intervened. In the latest incident, on Nov. 6, a suspect broke into a sex offender's home and hit him several times on the head, causing moderate lacerations that required hospital treatment. In both instances, the attacker made it clear that he was targeting a sex offender, said police spokesperson Liz Wylie.

"He is attacking people because they are sex offenders, which is awful," Wylie said.

Sex offenders are easily tracked because their whereabouts are posted online by law enforcement agencies.

Police are not sure if the two incidents involve the same suspect, but the descriptions from each incident are similar. Police will be releasing a description soon.

Like most of the 80 registered sex offenders in the city, both of the sex offenders in these attacks had been convicted of crimes against children, Wylie said. Each crime happened more than 15 years ago and each of the sex offenders had been law abiding as of late, Wylie said.

Police have not ruled out that the suspect knew the victim in each crime, but the man who was physically beaten said he had "never seen the suspect before in his life and didn't know why he would attack him," Wylie said.

In both instances the suspect is described by police as about six feet tall, in his early 20s and wearing "all dark clothing, including a dark baseball cap." In the first incident he was described by the passerby as Hispanic and weighing about 175 pounds. But in the second the suspect is described as white.

Eureka investigating Thompson shooting

11-11-2008 California:

As Robert Daniel Thompson lay in his hospital bed with gunshot wounds, Eureka police remained tight-lipped Monday about the events leading up to his shooting.

Thompson, a 43-year-old member of the Hells Angels, was acquitted this year of murder charges in the 1986 unsolved homicides of 12-year-old Jodi Ragsdale and 15-year-old Sheila Carter.

Eureka Police Detective Sgt. Patrick O'Neill, the investigator handling Thompson's case, said detectives have yet to speak with Thompson. He was transported to UC Davis Medical Center after he was shot Friday at the intersection of Third and C streets in Eureka.

Although O'Neill acknowledged speculation that Thompson's shooting may have been due to a rivalry between biker gangs, the Hells Angels and the Mongols, he said investigators haven't confirmed a motive. "We're working the case and every lead that comes in," O'Neill said. "We're looking at every possible explanation for this."

Police said four men have been booked into Humboldt County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder in the case. The suspects are Eureka residents Eric Gunner Lundin, 28, Dustin Christopher Liebes, 36, Brad Lee Miller, 26, and Redding resident Eric Dean Garcia, 28.

Eureka police responded to the scene after 11 p.m. and found Thompson, who had been shot several times. The suspects were arrested shortly thereafter.

Lundin, Liebes and Miller remain in Humboldt County Jail in lieu of $500,000 each. Garcia is being held in lieu of $500,000, in addition to a $10,000 arrest warrant stemming from a court order violation in Manteca.

Nicknamed "Bobby T" by friends and family, Thompson was tried twice on suspicion of killing Ragsdale and Carter. A Merced County jury in July found him not guilty of committing the murders, months after his first trial ended in a hung jury. Thompson continues to maintain his innocence in the girls' deaths.

He was convicted in 1987 for kidnapping a woman and served seven years in prison. As a result, he is listed as a convicted sex offender on the state's Megan's Law Web site.

Eureka police are asking anyone with information about the crime or the suspects to call (707) 441-4300. ..News Source.. by VICTOR A. PATTON

Community tries to get sex offender fired

11-19-2008 New Mexico:

A group of Farmington residents are campaigning to get one man fired from his job. There's a community effort to oust a registered sex offender who's now working around kids.

Jim Edward Bloomfield was convicted of molesting a child twenty years ago. He did his time, serving 15 years in prison.

Now, Bloomfield's a registered sex offender living next door to where he works, the Frontline Mission. It's a non-profit shelter for homeless and low income families.

But some Farmington residents say Bloomfield is too close for comfort.

"Well, I think it's absurd. The man has committed a horrendous crime against children. He should not have contact at all with them," said a Farmington resident.

Gerald Barber used to work with Bloomfield. He knew about Bloomfield's past and found out this week that he's now working with kids, so he wanted to do something about it.

Barber and a few others started posting flyers around the downtown area and in local businesses, alerting people about Jim Edward Bloomfield.

Bloomfield declined to comment on the effort to get him fired.

Bloomfield's boss says he gives everyone a second chance in live.

The Frontline Mission is independently owned and can employ anyone they choose. ..News Source.. by Austin Reed KOBF

Andrew Belant stabbed in jail

12-3-2008 California:

Andrew Belant, a former teacher's aide and part-time church youth director accused of molesting four young boys, was stabbed in jail Tuesday night, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office reported this morning.

The 25-year-old Belant was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was treated and returned to the jail the same night.

According to HCSO information, some time between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., Belant was in a common area in the jail when he was approached by 30-year-old Allen Guilliams, who reportedly stabbed him in the upper arm, shoulder and armpit approximately six times.

The blade of the prison-made shiv was about 7 inches long above the cloth-wrapped handle, the Sheriff's Office reported.

Guilliams, who has been in the jail since Nov. 14 for felony evasion of a peace officer, driving when unlicensed and a parole hold, was booked again for attempted murder and possession of a weapon in jail.

According to Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Brenda Godsey, who has worked with the HCSO for 17 years, stabbing events are very uncommon at the jail.

”This is the first stabbing I can remember,” she said. “It's significant stuff.”

Belant is scheduled to return to court for a hearing Dec. 8, and his jury trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 15. ..News Source.. by Sean Garmire/The Times-Standard