Post by Sher on Aug 11, 2005 16:53:14 GMT -5
Standing barefoot outside his small basement apartment in a quiet Issaquah neighborhood, convicted sex offender Kyle Lewis takes a drag off his cigarette and says he's changed.
"I don't care about these people's kids, what they do, where they play," the 28-year-old Lewis said. "A lot of sex offenders get a bad rap because of the one or two that get out and offend again."
Lewis and his roommate John Weber, also a convicted sex offender, are at the center of the community's efforts to ban high-level sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools or day-care centers.
And while his neighbors say he is dangerous, Lewis says he just wants to get a job, go to work and come home.
"I believe I should be able to have the rights that any normal people have," Lewis said.
Lewis and Weber met in prison and now live in the basement apartment of a house Lewis' mother owns.
Lewis lived in the house growing up and said that after he was released from prison in 2002, he moved back because he couldn't hold down a steady job or housing.
He says he worked at fast-food restaurants, fixed computers, helped build water heaters and threw fish at the Ballard docks where his co-workers called him "professor" because of his glasses and quick wit. The jobs would fall through when they either didn't pay the bills or employers would find out he was an ex-felon and sex offender, Lewis said.
Lewis says he was 15 when he sexually molested three children ages 4, 5 and 10. According to state Department of Corrections records, he was convicted on two counts of first-degree child molestation and was sentenced to seven years and five months in prison in 1998. He said he was released in December 2002, hasn't committed any sexual offenses since and just wants to get on with his life.
But his neighbors are not buying the story.
"This is the kind of neighborhood where kids run all over the place," said Jacob Mills, 26, who lives next door to Lewis. "I'm frightened for the neighborhood."
Mills has lived in the house next to Lewis for 20 years, and his family is on the verge of putting the house on the market. But they worry that others won't want to move in next to sex offenders, or they won't be able to sell the property for a good price, he said.
Because Lewis is a Level 3 offender — the highest level — he is likely to commit a similar crime again, Mills said.
"The problem for sexual offenders is there's no chance of reprieve," Mills said. "It's kind of like a bomb. It doesn't matter where you move it, it's going to go off."
"I don't care about these people's kids, what they do, where they play," the 28-year-old Lewis said. "A lot of sex offenders get a bad rap because of the one or two that get out and offend again."
Lewis and his roommate John Weber, also a convicted sex offender, are at the center of the community's efforts to ban high-level sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools or day-care centers.
And while his neighbors say he is dangerous, Lewis says he just wants to get a job, go to work and come home.
"I believe I should be able to have the rights that any normal people have," Lewis said.
Lewis and Weber met in prison and now live in the basement apartment of a house Lewis' mother owns.
Lewis lived in the house growing up and said that after he was released from prison in 2002, he moved back because he couldn't hold down a steady job or housing.
He says he worked at fast-food restaurants, fixed computers, helped build water heaters and threw fish at the Ballard docks where his co-workers called him "professor" because of his glasses and quick wit. The jobs would fall through when they either didn't pay the bills or employers would find out he was an ex-felon and sex offender, Lewis said.
Lewis says he was 15 when he sexually molested three children ages 4, 5 and 10. According to state Department of Corrections records, he was convicted on two counts of first-degree child molestation and was sentenced to seven years and five months in prison in 1998. He said he was released in December 2002, hasn't committed any sexual offenses since and just wants to get on with his life.
But his neighbors are not buying the story.
"This is the kind of neighborhood where kids run all over the place," said Jacob Mills, 26, who lives next door to Lewis. "I'm frightened for the neighborhood."
Mills has lived in the house next to Lewis for 20 years, and his family is on the verge of putting the house on the market. But they worry that others won't want to move in next to sex offenders, or they won't be able to sell the property for a good price, he said.
Because Lewis is a Level 3 offender — the highest level — he is likely to commit a similar crime again, Mills said.
"The problem for sexual offenders is there's no chance of reprieve," Mills said. "It's kind of like a bomb. It doesn't matter where you move it, it's going to go off."
