They also must update their driver’s license information at the DMV with every move.
Homeless offenders must update their address each time they move, or every 30 days if they remain in one spot. “Sometimes these guys go back into prison on purpose.”Īny adult convicted of a sex offense in Florida must register their address with police the information is displayed on a publicly-searchable government website. “You’re tired of living like this,” Darrell says. And so they begin and end each day with a question: How do you build a life in the shadows of a society that no longer wants you? It’s easy to see why lawmakers would want to banish these men to the farthest reaches of society.īut beyond the moral arguments about where sex offenders should live are the practical considerations of being human: They need to eat and sleep. Darrell, 46, who asked to be identified by his first name only, raped his stepdaughter over four years starting when she was 12. Brown, a former teacher, molested students in his care. Those subject to the residency restriction have committed a range of crimes, from being in a “Romeo and Juliet” relationship to downloading child porn to sexual assault. The county argues that the law is a regulation, not a punishment, saying in court papers that “if Plaintiffs have suffered any alleged harm, it is a result, in whole or in part, of their own conduct.” The suit claims that the residency restriction has left the sex offenders homeless, retroactively layering additional punishment atop their original sentences, which is unconstitutional.
“You have one law that says you can’t live inside and another law that says you can’t live outside,” says Valerie Jonas, an attorney representing sex offenders in a lawsuit against the county brought by the ACLU and Legal Services of Greater Miami. They’re also not allowed in homeless shelters. And a county ordinance amended earlier this year has essentially made that illegal, too-police can now arrest sex offenders for camping on public property. With so few options, almost 500 of Miami-Dade’s 2,200 registered sex offenders are homeless, according to law enforcement data. Convicted of several sexual assault charges, Vincent can’t live with his son, whose home is too close to a school. Vincent rolls up his tent before heading to his son’s place to check his mail.
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