This is Part II of a two-part collaboration with Loraine Ritchey of www.thatwoman.wordpress.com. Part I can be found at her site, posted Sunday.

In the last few years, Loraine spearheaded the collection and organization of the data concerning the addresses of the RSO’s in Lorain.  Recently, I was able to organize the current data and alphabetize the streets and order the numbered ones, and this is what I’ve got.

I have come to the conclusion that housing RSO’s must be a lucrative business, as there are a number of property owners that have multiple offenders as renters. St. Joseph Church is housing one on 15th St, which is a scary responsibility for a church to take on (if you ask me).  JED Investments has two on Seneca Ave., Dennis Hering has a pair on E. 28th Street, Orville Fleming has some in Colorado Avenue, Mukesh Desai a couple on West Erie, and Lisa Gaines has a pair on Oakwood Ave.

But wait! There’s more! There’s three at 5110 West Erie Avenue, though there isn’t a listing for this property on the auditor’s site. Rodney Blankenship has a whopping SEVEN at 3945 West Erie Avenue. Even former Mayor L. Craig Foltin has got himself an RSO, housing a Tier II Sex Offender at 184 Georgia Avenue, who was found guilty of Unlawful Sexual Conduct With a (Female) Minor.

Now take a second and think about this. How many employers will hire an ex-con to work a job? Not too many. They went to prison for a reason, and that reason usually is not something minor. You wouldn’t put an embezzler in charge of your money, or trust a thief to clean your house, would you?

So, exactly how many employers, do you think, would hire a registered sex offender? That’s what I was thinking, so where does the money come from? What does one gain from housing an RSO? I don’t know, either.

Is housing an RSO against the law? Of course not. Is it a neighborly thing to do? Not really, but when you don’t live at the property, then they’re really not your neighbors to worry about, are they?

What IS illegal is when the RSO is living within 1000 feet of a school in the State of Ohio.

Recently, I learned that St. Nicholas Church’s pre-school (on W. 40th St.) was about to open. I contacted CRO Dave Kusznir to ask him about the proximity to the school of an RSO. He did some checking, found the offender was in violation AND wanted on a warrant in Sheffield Lake. He arrested the offender and transported him to SL, and informed the parents that he could not return to the house.

This had me wondering if there were other offenders that might be too close to some of the schools in Lorain.  I spent an evening at the Ohio eSorn site, plugging in the addresses for all of Lorain’s city schools. I copied over 60 names of RSO’s that looked like they were located too close to a school. I sent a copy of this list to Mayor Tony Krasienko and Police Chief Cel Rivera.  

There are 276 RSO’s living in the city of Lorain. As I was organizing the list by street, I noticed one lived close to a relative who has a young child. I emailed him and sent him the info, telling him in the email that it looked like this guy was almost in his backyard.  He wrote me back to tell me that the RSO was, in fact, next-door.

Do you know who’s next-door to you? In your backyard? Do you know if there is an RSO living close to your children’s school?

Don’t you think you should?

For anyone interested, I’ve got the RSO reports available and ready to email. Just drop me an email at heneryhawk1@yahoo.com or leave your email address in the comments, along with which report, or all of them, you’d like.