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According to Clay County Sheriff Randy Krukow, 29-year-old Allen Mills listed "DeWolf Park" in Spencer as his intended address when he discharged from the state prison system on March 21.
DeWolf Park does not allow camping. Deputies knew he couldn't be staying there.
Authorities gave Mills time to establish a new address. He turned himself in Thursday afternoon at the Clay County Sheriff's Office after he learned that law enforcement officers were looking for him. He was processed and placed in the Clay County Jail.
Mills was originally on the registry for a November 1998 conviction on two counts of third-degree sexual abuse involving a male age 14-17.
Individuals who are required by law to register with the Iowa Sex Offender Registry must report any change of address or telephone number to the appropriate sheriff's agencies within five days of the change, according to the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
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Iowa should be proud that the 'system' works so well! We have it set up so that it provides continual harassment for those who have served their time in prison for any sexual abuse charge, whether or not they re-offend.
We expect those on the Sex Offender Registry to live 'somewhere' (because we can't make them NOT live) - but make sure they can't live anywhere that a reasonable person WOULD live. Then, when they have to register in parks, rest areas, or under bridges, we can slap them with yet another charge! And then we have them again. What a great system!
All ex-cons should be in on this plan, then we would have even more people in prison, and always have something 'on them', even if they don't commit any 'real' crimes again.
Maybe these people shouldn't have committed "real" crimes in the first place. Stop breaking the law and life becomes a lot easier.
In Spencer it makes it impossible to find a place to live 2,000 feet from a school or daycare. I know that a sex charge is very serious and we want to protect the children, but alot of times the sex offender is doing it to family members, so it doesn't have anything to do with a school or daycare. The law needs to change.
If it is so hard to find a suitable place to live in Spencer(ie away from a school or daycare), why would the mind immediately jump to listing a park as an address? Try living outside the city limits, for example.
That being said, read the story again. This man listed his address as DeWolf Park the day he was released from prison. Do you think he took the time to check on his rental prospects in town and their various distances from schools? Doesn't sound like it. The system didn't fail here, Mr. Mills failed himself. Hopefully next time he's released, he takes the time to research his options, avoids reoffending, and can be a productive member of society. We'll see.
keep your hands off the children and he wouldn't be in this situation
Notice his charge and the date. Ten years ago, when he was 19 he committed third degree sexual abuse on a male age 14-17. The male could have been closer to 17 than 14. They could have had some sort of experimentation that was mutual, then were caught or for some other reason the younger boy claimed Mills forced him. I am not saying that's what happened, but third degree sexual abuse is very different from first degree sexual assault; it's not all out rape. Now if he was molesting this boy, that's one thing, but if it was blown out of proportion, as third degree charges many times are, he's paid his debt to society.
Regardless of whether or not his original charge was blown out of proportion, the fact remains that he was the one who failed to find housing for himself. That's the issue here.
Be honest: Sex offenders are not allowed to live within certain distance of schools or daycares. In some places, churches with daycare centers. I'm sure you understand the limitations this would pose, since there are school, churches and daycares outside the city limits as well. Sex offenders are required to list the place of intended residence before they are released, certainly you understand how difficult it is for someone to check rental prospects while incarcerated, they don't necessarily have access to any tools that would facilitate their research in that respect. In addition, more than likely nobody will rent to him. So, he listed the place where he thought he would end up:
in the park, under a bridge.