Towns seek defense against sexual predators

By DAVID HULSE

GLEN SPEY, NY — It is irresponsible and dangerous to move convicted sexual offenders into a community without notifying local police and authorities, said Lumberland Supervisor John LiGreci.

LiGreci, who chairs the Sullivan County Supervisors Association, says the association will invite senator John Bonacic and assemblywoman Aileen Gunther to meet with them about making changes to the state notification law that keeps tabs on the most dangerous sexual offenders.

LiGreci’s concern was prompted after he learned that state parole officials had moved convicted sexual offender Anthony Ellert into Mohican Lake and that Ellert had been living in Mohican Lake for a year without the knowledge of state police or town constables. Convicted of the sexual abuse of a five-year-old boy in 1993, Ellert is classified as a level-three sexual offender, the classification for those most dangerous, most likely to repeat their offenses.

The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department is responsible for oversight of a register of sexual offenders, but Sheriff Dan Hogue says the law limits who he can notify and his budget limits the staff he can devote to administering the register.

LiGreci said he would form a committee on the association to work with members of the county legislature in making a proposal. “We want to see if it’s possible to get an amendment of the notification law, something clear cut, who’s notified, when and where these people will be.… We have to have a safety barrier,” said LiGreci.

Presently, community concerns do not enter into the state’s planning for finding residences for released sexual offenders. “The only time when they get moved now is when it is not safe for them to be in a certain place.”

LiGreci says that policy could inspire vigilante action in a community. “It shouldn’t get to that level. Someone has got to take the bull by the horns,” he said.

Both Bonacic and Gunther announced last week pending legislation to stiffen oversight of level-three offenders.

Bonacic’s senate bill would institute continuous global positioning system monitoring of these offenders and make it a crime to violate the provision.

Gunther is supporting a similar assembly measure, as well as separate provisions mandating participation in post-release treatment programs and intensified supervision with a set minimum number of weekly supervisory contacts.