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Sex offender too close to school, South Side resident contends
YOUNGSTOWN — A longtime resident of one South Side neighborhood is concerned that a convicted sex offender is moving into the neighborhood not far from a school, but police say he has every right to move in.
James Vaughn, of Hudson Avenue, said he was shocked when he received a letter from the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department last week informing him that a Tier III sex offender was moving to his neighborhood. Vaughn lives near a large church and the former Sheridan School, which is still being used as a school.
According to the letter, Jesse Lamont Cooper would be living in the 400 block of West Ravenwood. Detective Charles Emery, of the sheriff’s department, said Cooper had been convicted of attempted rape and attempted kidnapping in 2000.
Vaughn, after receiving the letter, wrote a few letters of his own to various news organizations, the sheriff’s department and neighbors.
“My concern is that he is near a school and is a predator. We just had a 15-year-old girl dragged to a house and assaulted [in Campbell]. What’s to say that same thing won’t happen here,” said Vaughn.
Emery said there is a rule that forbids registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school, but that law does not apply to Cooper.
According to Emery, the law forbidding registered offenders from living near a school was put into effect in July 2003. He said the law does not apply to anyone convicted before the July 2003 enactment date.
Cooper, having been convicted in 2000, does not fall under the umbrella of the rule.
The technicalities involved in the legislation offer no solace to Vaughn. He said the area does have two organized block-watch groups, and he is hopeful that community organization can be effective in keeping an eye on the area overall.
Cooper is one of the few registered sex offenders for whom the sheriff’s department is required to notify residents concerning his residency.
According to Emery, the state in 2008 reclassified the designations for sex offenders from the former sexually oriented, habitual- offender and sexual-predator classifications to the current Tier 1 through Tier III system, leading to appeals by some convicted under the former designations.
The appeals have led to stay orders from the courts putting a stop to notification of the public on anyone not formerly considered a sexual predator, the most drastic classification. The sheriff’s department issued notification about Cooper because he was considered a sexual predator upon his conviction.
jgoodwin@vindy.com
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Comments
There will be alot of people keeping their eye on him so he better not even look at anyone the wrong way....if he knows what is good for him. The laws are crazy and him being a Tier III sex offender is just not safe having him around where children are going to be. The laws are in favor of the offender....
I commend Mr. Vaughn for his efforts of making our world a better place to live......I am sorry the laws aren't worth the ink or paper they are written on sometimes....Mr. Vaughn, you can sleep tonight knowing you did all you could do to keep our children safe........Thanks for being there..........
Lamont Cooper is a young black man "accused" of rape by a young white girl that got scared when daddy had found out she was dating outside of her race. He signed some papers not knowing what he was signing and not having a decent enough lawyer to explain to him what he was signing. Instead of Mr. Vaughn creating fear in his neighborhood, he should approach the young man, state his case, and then hear the "whole truth."
Maybe Mr Cooper is innocent , but Mr Vaughn has no way of knowing that. He is right to try to protect the community in which he has invested his life . He doesn't want to see families move out & his new neighbors comprise only those who are shunned elsewhere .
The bigger issue is the avalanche of registered sex offenders - especially Tier 3 - which descended on the Southside this year after automatic mailbox notification ceased . Low market rents don't explain everything . With now 81 registrations, growing at about 1 per week , most people would think there was a good chance that some reoffences will occur ; even if a few are really "innocent" .
I'm an absentee property owner trying to improve the area, but I still knew of Mr Cooper's arrival because I registered with the Mahoning Sherrif's website to be notified . Southside internet use is very low . However, families thinking of buying or renting Southside look at the Sherrif's online map & they don't like what they see . Areas with more people online have far fewer registered offenders - e.g. Poland Village , which has only 1 .
Southsiders have to get online & get notified & informed. If they don't own a computer , they can use the library's computers for free.
I don't see how internet use has anything to do with where sex offenders live. It is very difficult for sex offenders to find employment, so probably the reason Poland only has 1 is because sex offenders can't afford to live in Poland. Just because neighbors might know about a sex offender moving in doesn't mean they can stop it. Sex offenders can live anywhere they want as long as they are in compliance with state laws.