Politics & Government

Emotions Run High Over Attleboro Sex Offender Ban [VIDEO]

A proposed Child Safety ordinance caused a heated debate during an Attleboro City Council public hearing.

One by one, residents took to the podium during a public hearing at an meeting Tuesday to speak both for and against a proposed ordinance that would ban Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders from entering city-owned buildings and property.

Candace and Keith Shepard of Attleboro, who have two children, attended the public hearing to speak in favor of the proposed ordinance.

"As a parent, there is nothing more important than my children and their safety and well being," Catherine Shepard told Attleboro city councilors." I know this isn't going to eliminate the problem of sex offenders in our city, but I think it's the step in the right direction."

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Shepard told the council that the ordinance would give the more power to do something about offenders hanging out at areas in the city where there are children. Shepard described an incident at the beginning of the school year where a Level 3 sex offender (Level 3 is for the most serious offenders) was reported hanging out by "The police could do nothing more than ask the individual to leave," Shepard said. "They could not force him to leave because he was off probation."

False Sense of Security

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Attleboro resident Laurie Brasil took a different stance and spoke against the proposed ordinance.

"I have three children and nothing would make me happier than to wrap them in bubble wrap and protect them from anything and everyone that could hurt them," she told councilors. "But this is not protection. If anything, this will give parents a false sense of security."

"If we could be 100 percent sure that all these offenders are child molesters, then I would agree," she added. "But we can't."

The most vocal person to reach the podium was Paul Heroux, a resident who has worked at the Massachusetts Department of Correction and Philadelphia Prison System. 

Heroux echoed Brasil's thoughts on the ordinance providing a false sense of security and said the ordinance would not protect the city's children and would only open the city up to potential civil liberties lawsuits. The ordinance would not have a huge impact on the 19 Level 3 registered sex offenders in Attleboro and 71 Level 2 offenders, he said.

"What's often overlooked are facts, and people make decisions based on fear, and I see a lot of evidence about that right now," Heroux said. "Sex offenders actually have the lowest rate of recividism (relapse into criminal behavior)."

"They are not waiting in the book stacks at the or waiting in the park to jump out of the bush and kidnap a kid and doing horrible things to that child," Heroux said. "They are meeting the kids online and developing a trust with a child, a trust they can exploit."

Rather than push for such an ordinance, Heroux suggested to councilors that parents and teachers can protect their children by talking with them about "good touch vs. bad touch."

City Council Vice President Walter Thibodeau, who said the issue of molestation is personal, asked Heroux if he was a sex offender or represented any prisoner advocacy groups.

"I just can't understand why if this was such a motivational thing for you to do, why you haven't spoke sooner," he said. "I see very little validity with the points you are trying to make."

The public hearing on the proposed ordinance was closed. The city council tabled a final decision on adopting the ordinance for a later time.


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