Ohio law has limits on where sex offenders can live in relation to schools, preschools and other child-care facilities depending on when they were convicted – the restrictions are greater on those with recent convictions because of when those laws passed. But there is no restriction on sex offenders living near their victims.
The Ohio House nearly unanimously passed a bill to ban convicted a sex offender or a child-victim offender from living within 2,000 feet of their victim.
Rep. Roy Klopfenstein (R-Haviland) said he proposed banning sex offenders from living within two thousand feet of their victims after the family in his district reached out, telling him their neighbor had abused their six-year-old child. He was convicted and put on the sex offender registry for 25 years.
"Under our current sex offender registry and notification laws—also known as SORN—he is prohibited from living within 1000 feet of any school, preschool, child care center, crisis child, children's crisis care facility, or residential infant care center," Klopfenstein said on the House floor last month. "However, there is no restriction preventing him from living right next door to his victim. This little girl is now afraid to even play in her backyard because he lives directly behind her house and frequently spends his time on the back deck facing towards her yard."
“This is a deeply concerning issue, especially considering that 80% of sexual assaults are committed by someone the victim knows," Klopfenstein added. “My six-year-old constituent should not have to live in constant fear of going outside experiencing another assault. I want her to be able to go enjoy the sunshine, feel the grass under her feet, play with the other children and have a chance to heal.”
House Bill 102 got two no votes, both of them from Democrats. One of them, Rep. Cecil Thomas (D-Cincinnati), a former police officer, said he understands the goal but he is concerned about unintended consequences.
"The language leaves no room for the protection of the tenant. If a tenant unknowingly allows someone to live in the premises who is a registered sex offender or a child victim offender. In other words, the tenant would face serious penalties simply because they did not know the individual was a sexual offender, nor did they know where the victim lived," Thomas said. “What needs to be put into the language is that the tenant knowingly allowed this to occur.”
Thomas added: "Some fear that the bill might encourage offenders to monitor their victim's whereabouts to avoid violating the law, thereby potentially causing additional harm. In other words, continuously searching the internet following the victim making sure that they know exactly where the victim lives."
After an 89-2 vote, the bill moves on to the Senate.
