Sex offenders will have separate storm shelter

Lee County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Charles Ferrante was set to convince Lee County commissioners Tuesday night about the “critical” need for a separate shelter during emergencies for sexual predators and offenders.

They had already gotten the message.

It took commissioners fewer than 60 seconds to unanimously approve the shelter ordinance. There was no discussion during the public hearing and only one comment from Commissioner Ray Judah.

“I just want to express my appreciation to Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott for being so proactive in creating this shelter,” he said.

No members of the public spoke during the hearing.

The ordinance, which requires all registered sexual predators and offenders to report to a designated location or locations during an emergency, took effect immediately after the hearing, said Ferrante.

Sexual offenders are those convicted of a crime of a sexual nature. The label “predator” is given by a judge to men and women who have committed especially heinous sex crimes, who are repeat offenders or who the judge believes could become repeat offenders.

There will be a zero-tolerance policy for violators of the ordinance, Ferrante said. They will face a $500 fine and a prison stay of up to 60 days, he said.

The ordinance will protect the about 480 registered sexual predators and offenders in the county, he said. They could become the subject of harassment or bodily harm in a public shelter, he said.

However, Ferrante made no bones about the No. 1 priority of the ordinance.

“Our law-abiding citizens come first,” he said. “I’m protecting people who have not been convicted.”

He did not say whether any sexual predators or offenders had complained to the Sheriff’s Office about the ordinance. Any such complaints would be “unimportant to me,” he said.

Everyone who reports to a shelter during an emergency is screened through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s database of registered sexual predators and offenders. During hurricanes Charley and Wilma, signs directed the predators and offenders to identify themselves so they could be housed in a separate part of the public shelter.

There were no problems with the previous system, and the Sheriff’s Office wanted to make sure there never were, Ferrante said.

There is room in the Lee County Justice Center to house some of the sex predators and offenders, and the Sheriff’s Office is looking for more space, he said.

All of the predators and offenders will be notified of the new ordinance, he said. There will be bus routes countywide to take them to the shelter if they do not have transportation, he said.

If a sex predator or offender shows up at a public shelter at the last minute, he or she is already in violation of the ordinance, he said.

“They might be riding out the storm in the Lee County jail,” he said.

Lee is the second county in the state to create a segregated shelter for those convicted of sex crimes. Hendry County recently passed a similar ordinance.

Rita Stauss of Sanibel wholeheartedly approved of the ordinance, but it is not enough, she said.

As a retired elementary school guidance school counselor, she said she has seen many children’s lives shattered as a result of sexual abuse.

“The rights of the predators surpass those of the victims,” she said. “Those children have a lifetime of medical bills (for therapy), or they become a predator themselves.”

Stauss wants sexual predators and offenders embedded with an electronic chip, similar to those used to find lost pets, so they can be tracked. She acknowledged such a practice could be considered a violation of civil rights.

“When these people attack children, infants, 2-year-olds, what rights do (the victims) have?” she said.