Cold shoulder for sex offenders

Some of Robert's South Jordan neighbors are afraid of him. So much so that one resident wrote Gov. Olene Walker asking that she do something about getting him out of the neighborhood.

The concern is this: Robert is a convicted sex offender who lives a short distance from the neighborhood school, Elk Meadows Elementary, 9800 S. 3448 West, and children walk by Robert's home as they go to and from school.

For Robert, who is currently on parole and listed on the state's sex offender registry, the situation is nothing new. Prior to living in his current South Jordan neighborhood, he received the same treatment at his previous home from a woman who did not want him in the neighborhood.

But, according to the Department of Corrections, Robert has also successfully completed all of his treatment programs and is due to be released from parole in the near future, although he will remain on the sex offender registry for several more years. The governor's office forwarded the letter from Robert's neighbors to Corrections officials.

Robert declined to speak about the situation, but his parole agent, Mark Brienholt, said Robert was "pretty upset" with all the unwanted attention.

"For some reason people have really been on this guy," Brienholt said. "More so than other offenders."

Robert's problem highlights a controversial issue growing across the nation: Should registered sex offenders be allowed to live near schools or day cares, and is enforcing such a restriction legal?

A handful of states have passed "child safety zone" laws restricting where sex offenders can live. But some of those states also face legal challenges to the statutes.

Alabama was the first state to pass restrictions on sex offenders in 1996. Under Alabama law, offenders cannot work or live within 2,000 feet of a school or day care. Other states also prohibit what sex offenders can do within a certain distance of a school or day care ranging from living and working to volunteering and even traveling.

In Iowa and Tennessee, the constitutionality of laws outlining where sex offenders can live is being challenged. Likewise, an ordinance in Albuquerque preventing sex offenders from living near schools was also put on hold earlier this year after the ACLU filed suit claiming it violated the civil rights of sex offenders.

Assistant Utah Attorney General Craig Barlow concurred that trying to restrict a person because of history raises serious constitutional questions.