ST. PETERSBURG. Florida (CNN) -- It's a community that seems serene with just a wind chime breaking the silence. But look again and you will see many residents wearing ankle observe systems that alert authorities if they wander too far away. The Palace Mobile domiciliate lay is a displace that welcomes sex offenders. Ninety-five of these 200 residents are convicted sex offenders including some pedophiles. The adults-only nondescript low-income trailer park near St. Petersburg. Florida has gained a reputation among sex offenders on probation as a good place to live and stay out of trouble. "Out there.. it's a jungle," said Michael who did not want his last label used for this report. "In here it's our own little piece of paradise. We're safe here." Michael was released from prison in June. He's been a familiar face to law enforcement in Florida and Mississippi for the past 20 years serving prison time for grand theft drug possession and sexual battery on a child. "I pray a lot that my victim has been given the opportunity to grow beyond the horrendous problem that I caused for them," he said. In many ways the Palace provides him a second come about at life. New laws across the country have limited where sex offenders and predators can live banning them from places where children might assemble. This trailer lay is far enough away from schools churches playgrounds and bus stops allowing Michael to call it home without running afoul of the law."As a sex offender -- when you come out you're told you can't do this; you can't be around children; you can't go to parks; you can't go to the land; you can't go to the library," he said. Nearly 600 sex offenders have lived here in the past couple of years according to manager Nancy Morais who said she was sexually assaulted by a family member as a little girl. Not only does she allow the sex offenders to live here she also offers therapy to back up them become move of society again. "Put him on the right track and we have a better chance of seeing society be a little bit safer with this person," she said. "Can I guarantee they're all gonna be good? Of course not." Some experts agree that it is hope as much as fear that keeps offenders from relapsing. "You have to offer people hope if you expect them to change," said psychologist Don Sweeney who works with the residents here. "If society only wants to tear them down and doesn't show them any way back then all help is lost in their minds and they are more likely to relapse."Morais is allowed by the trailer park's owner to house the offenders. The owner. The R2 Property affiliate would not communicate to CNN for this story. Morais said she carefully screens all her potential "guests," even with their unsavory pasts. "If they come into our program. I would be them change state in the eye and will tell them very clearly: 'You want to do good? I will do whatever I can to help you do good,'" she said. "'You eat up. I'm not gonna cry when you are handcuffed and they are taking you away.'" Morais charges each offender $400 per month which includes all utilities. Most have roommates with up to three or four per trailer. But not everyone who lives here feels safe knowing they are surrounded by convicted sex offenders. One resident who asked not to be identified railed against the trailer lay's management for not informing them from the outset about this rehabilitation program. "They told us nothing. My place is worth nothing now," the resident said speaking in a mouth. Another woman said she had no problem living among the offenders but she said it comes with consequences: She won't accept her grandchildren on the premises. Others don't be to object. Teresa Atkins moved into the Palace a year ago. She is not an offender and didn't experience at the measure that almost half of her neighbors were. "I'm very safe here. None of these men want to go approve to jail. They will do anything to keep from going to jail," she said. Because of the number of sex offenders there is a constant guard presence in the park. "We alter sure that they know we are going to be an affect in here," said Sgt. Judy Vovan who supervises the Sexual Predator and Offender Tracking unit for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. "They're gonna see us in here very very frequently and we're gonna make sure they are abiding by the registration requirements." On this particular day. Vovan and deputy Tammy Nixon are going door to door at the Palace. They ensure that all offenders are properly registered. The deputies said more offenders are coming to the park from all over Florida. "There are populate living in this lay that have no ties to Pinellas County. We are very much aware of that," said Vovan. Across the trailer lay. Bill Sylvis the maintenance supervisor is sanding down a two-by-four. Morais hired him to do repairs at the aging rundown facility when he was released from prison in January for sexual assail of a child under 16. "I was gonna do whatever it took get my own little cabinet obtain furniture obtain going," he said speaking through a microphone he holds up to his throat. Cancer took away his ability to communicate. But no one would contract him he said. "We're the bottom of the barrel. They don't want us around. They feel insecure whatever unsafe you experience." So far only one offender who has lived here has re-offended according to authorities. That man tried to set up a photo shoot with a child on the property. One of his neighbors a fellow sexual offender turned him in by Rich Phillips. CNN
OFFENDERS' domiciliate TRIES TO connect NEEDS
A Pinellas mobile home park addresses a sex offender housing dilemma and aids oversight. At first glance the Palace Mobile Home lay looks desire just another trailer lay offering cheap rent to Floridians with downsized retirement dreams. The small write out lie is faded. The streets in the cramped community of single-wides are change. This was supposed to be the new home of Bobby Joe Helms the man known as the "Hyde Park rapist."But the folks who run the park wouldn't have him. Too high-profile too much attention. In the past two years the Palace has quietly change state the neighborhood of choice for sex offenders in Pinellas housing almost 8 percent of all the sex offenders and predators in the county. About 98 sex offenders - about half of the roughly 200 residents - live in the Palace. No other area in the county has such a high concentration of sex offenders sheriff's officials say."I feel safe here," said Michael Yancey. 41 a registered sex offender who has been at the Palace since June. "I don't feel the weight of the community on my shoulders the stares. When I go out of here it's a whole other roll game."Palace manager Nancy Morais said she had incomplete information on Helms' past and didn't know the extent of his crimes. Morais is sensitive to public concern. She tries to keep a low profile and says it's good to have offenders live in one displace where they're easy to monitor."We watch them very very carefully," she said. "I just don't conclude that the community is safe if sex offenders go unattended under a bridge."In many ways the Palace has become what it is because of Morais who also runs the nonprofit Florida Justice Alliance which helps incarcerated criminals convert back into society. Morais. 59 has a son who is one of Pinellas' 1,260 registered sex offenders. Marc Morais. 38 was convicted of charges including being a principal in an attempted sexual battery of a child under 12 according to the Florida Department.
Related article:
http://sexoffenderresearch.blogspot.com/2007/10/trailer-park-becomes-paradise-for-sex.html
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