Montville's Senior Safety Ordinance must be repealed

I am disgusted by individuals who have violated the essence of innocence and vulnerability of children with their perverse sexual needs.  I am appalled by anyone who commits a sexually based crime against another, for this type of crime strips away the victim's essential rights to be safe. The victim or survivor will be changed forever, even after recovery, the sexual assault becomes an intimate part of their being. Disregarding my personal beliefs, a candid discussion must be initiated about the Senior Safety Zones concurrently with the Sex Offender Facility (SOF).

Last night, the Town Council passed an ordinance that at its very least is a vagrant slap at the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights. While I am not an advocate for sex offenders, rather quite the opposite, I am an advocate for our nation's most sacred document. Therefore I will argue the Senior Safety Zones violate these fundamental rights.

First, under the section of the ordinance titled Purpose it states, "the Town of Montville has a compelling interest in protecting seniors from the threat of sexual abuse from sex offenders."

This is statistically untrue.

According to a study by Toshi Tartara noted in the book Elder Abuse and Neglect, "Sexual abuse [of elders] constitutes less than 1% of reported cases..." Equally important, of the residents at the SOF, 98% of them were convicted of crimes against minors.  This statistic can be easily obtained through the CT Sex Offender Registry.

Second, the ordinance defines Safety Zones in a broad manner to basically include any facility, event, or service provided to Montville's senior population.  This in itself is disturbing for, like it or not, there are Montville residents on the sex offender registry that are over 60. The members of the Town Council who voted in favor of the ordinance have now stripped these individuals of services that they are granted per their age and citizenship.  Regardless if they committed the most heinous of crimes, these offenders have the right to access services such as transportation for medical visits, free medical clinics and reduced-fee lunches at the Senior Center.

Third, the Prohibitions section of the ordinance states, "It shall be unlawful for a Sex Offender to be present in a Senior Safety Zone."  This statement categorizes every person ever convicted of a sex crime regardless of if they are on the Offender Registry or not.

I can continue with the reasons why this is a poorly written and ill conceived ordinance, but I believe it may be a fruitless debate. The inevitable truth is people, including myself, want to see sex offenders punished equally as they punished the innocents. In my opinion, may these offenders spend the remainder of their lives sufferings as their victims.  But, one of the many reasons why this is a great country we live in, is due to the inalienable rights afforded to us by our forefathers. And these rights are extended to even the worst of society's citizens once they have served the sentence for their crimes.

To this end, the Senior Safety Zone ordinance must be repealed.