Delaware judge refuses to halt eviction of sex offenders living near Wilmington daycare center

Under these circumstances, i.e., the sex offenders are not the owners of the property they are living in, this is the usual result absent a grandfather clause provision.

8-19-2011 Delaware:

DOVER, Del. — A judge has refused to issue a temporary restraining order prohibiting authorities from evicting registered sex offenders from two Wilmington safe houses.

The Chancery Court ruling Friday means any sex offenders still being sheltered by Harriet Tubman Safe House Inc., which operates two homes for newly released inmates, will be arrested if they don't leave by Monday.

Authorities targeted the offenders for eviction after a daycare center opened nearby last year. Under state law, sex offenders cannot live within 500 feet of a school.

More than a dozen sex offenders already have moved from the safe houses, leaving only one, 52-year-old Richard Paredes, who has been unable to find other living arrangements.

Paredes, convicted of unlawful sexual contact with a child, said that come Monday morning, he will be homeless. ..Source.. by RANDALL CHASE

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ACLU: Don't evict sex offenders

8-16-2011 Delaware:

Suit seeks to stop Wilmington from ejecting men from safe houses near day care

WILMINGTON -- The ACLU is asking a court to stop the city of Wilmington from evicting sex offenders this week from a safe house on the city's East Side because a day care center recently opened nearby.

The request for a temporary restraining order and expedited hearing -- along with a lawsuit that names the city of Wilmington and the state of Delaware as defendants -- was filed late Friday in Delaware Chancery Court, according to the Delaware American Civil Liberties Union. This follows an earlier federal civil lawsuit filed by Earl Woodlen Jr., the owner of Harriet Tubman Safe House Inc., in late July without an attorney.

It is now expected that the federal lawsuit will be dropped.

"The city appreciates the predicament faced by the residents of the Harriet Tubman Safe House but we are following the advice of the Attorney General's Office and cannot comment further due to the pending court action," William Montgomery, Mayor James M. Baker's chief of staff, said in an email Saturday.

The Delaware Attorney General's Office previously has declined to comment.

ACLU Delaware Executive Director Kathleen MacRae said Saturday that the situation for men living at the two homes and the operator seems "very unfair and very rushed by the city."

Woodlen has operated two safe houses -- one in the 700 block of N. Buttonwood St. and one on the 900 block of E. Seventh St. -- since 2003, offering newly released inmates, including sex offenders, a place to stay for free for 30 days. The men can then pay rent to stay on after the 30 days.

The day care center began operating less than 500 feet from both homes in September. Wilmington police informed operators of the safe houses on June 28 that any sex offenders living at either house would have to leave or face arrest after Aug. 19 because state law prohibits sex offenders from living within 500 feet of a school.

The convicted sex offenders live in the Buttonwood Street house and would not be able to move to the East Seventh Street house because of its proximity to the day care center.

"It is already difficult for men who have been convicted of a sex offense to find a place to live," MacRae said. "State law should not force these men to move, or prevent facilities like the safe house from housing them, every time a private citizen decides to open a day care center."

She said the ACLU has questions about how the police measured the distance between the homes and the day care center, whether a day care center qualifies as a "school" under state law and, if it does, the constitutionality of evicting men because the state law does not contain a "grandfather" provision for existing facilities like Tubman House.

Attorney Daniel Wolcott Jr., who is part of the legal team fighting the evictions, said they are hoping to allow three sex offenders who live at the facility to remain "until the application and constitutionality of the law in this case is resolved." According to the operators, 11 registered sex offenders -- including the only rent-paying residents -- already have moved out because of the threats made by the Wilmington police. ..Source.. by SEAN O'SULLIVAN, The News Journal

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With nowhere to go, sex offenders file suit

8-9-2011 Delaware:

New school ousts nearby safe house residents

For nearly three years, 52-year-old Richard Paredes has lived on Wilmington's East Side, sharing quarters with men recently released from prison who have nowhere else to live.

Paredes, a former teacher, also works out of the home as a case manager trying to find jobs and permanent housing for the former offenders.

But by next week, Paredes and the other registered sex offenders living at the Harriet Tubmans Safe House -- one of the few places in the state that takes in homeless registered sex offenders -- must move out. That's because of a learning center and preschool that recently opened less than 500 feet from the safe house.

"I understand the law, but there also should be like a pre-existing clause like in some other states," said Paredes, who was convicted of two sexual offenses. "This program has been here first, and this program actually is respected by the community."

Under Delaware law, certain sex offenders are not permitted 500 feet from a school, even if the school opens after the registered sex offender began living there.

Harriet Tubmans Safe House, which consists of two homes less than a block away from each other, housed about 24 people at one time.

But since Wilmington police informed them of the coming evictions, 11 registered sex offenders have moved out. Five others remain there hoping a federal lawsuit will allow them to stay in at least one of the houses.

Paredes said they know they will not be able to stay at the house in the 900 block of E. Seventh St. because it is 365 feet from the learning center on the grounds of Old Swedes Church, which is leasing out the rooms. But they have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court asking to be allowed to stay at the second safe house in the 700 block of Buttonwood St., which is 493 feet from the school -- or seven feet short of the 500 feet the law mandates.

"These people got nowhere to go," said Earl W. Woodlen Jr., owner of both homes and CEO of Tubmans Safe House. Woodlen, a convicted drug dealer, said he purchased the homes to help former offenders enter society. ..For the rest of this story.. by ESTEBAN PARRA
The News Journal

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