LONGMONT, Colo. — An open house at a "recovery residence" in Longmont on Winding Drive is hoping to address community concerns Thursday. Community members are welcomed to meet the residents and ask questions from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Neighbors have expressed worries to city council about the eight sex offenders living in the home surrounded by families, Alpine Elementary School and Rough and Ready Park.
The home sparked a discussion of a city ordinance to consider how far sex offenders should have to live from those landmarks.
On Tuesday, council had their first reading and agreed on a 500-foot setback from private and city parks, and a 500-foot setback from schools.
It also recommends no more than three unrelated sex offenders live at the same residence.
"I actually had to leave because I was appalled. I'm appalled that they are not taking more productive measures. And it is a culture. It is a culture of re-victimizing victims and taking risk with other people's children," Judi Atwood, sexual assault survivor, said.
She attended the council meeting and has brought forth another home, on Morgan Road, where five sex offenders live.
"My boyfriend said, 'Hey, I'll get you guys a house," Atwood explained. "He purchased his home, and we moved in. We were here one night, and a neighbor came over the next morning, as I was packing my girls up to go to school and said, 'Did you know about the sexual predators that live next door to you'; So as soon as we found that out, we said, 'We can't, we can't live there.'"
That home is about 1,000 feet from Rocky Mountain Elementary School.
Atwood said she's "hypervigilant" about who is around her, and calls Thursday's open house a "mistake."
The residence is run by Roohallah Mobarez, a convicted sex offender. He declined an interview with Denver7 but sent a 2004 report by the Colorado Department of Public Safety.
"High-risk sex offenders living in Shared Living Arrangements had significantly fewer violations than those living in other living arrangements," according to the report. "Shared Living Arrangements also had one of the shortest amounts of time between when a sex offender committed a violation and when the probation officer or treatment provider found out about the violation. In addition, the roommates of sex offenders living in Shared Living Arrangements called in violations of probation and treatment requirements to the sex offender’s treatment provider and probation officer more times than roommates in any other living arrangement."
The report also looked into where sex offenders should and shouldn't be allowed to live.
In a recommendation, it states, "Placing restrictions on the location of correctionally supervised sex offender residences may not deter the sex offender from re-offending and should not be considered as a method to control sexual offending recidivism."
Longmont City Council will have a second reading on May 20, and there will be time for public comment, according to a spokesperson for the city.
If passed, the ordinance will take effect 10 days later.
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