TOWN OF NIAGARA: Residents sound off on offender

Communities

March 10, 2010

By Paul Olczak The Niagara Gazette Wed Mar 10, 2010, 09:33 AM EST

Angry residents made their feelings known about a registered sex offender living near them without their knowledge at a block club meeting Tuesday night.

�We want to know what would have happened if we hadn�t taken it upon ourselves to do something?� asked resident Brett Biro.

Chief of police James Suitor said a zip code error was to blame for the lack of notification.

Scott Hudson registered with New York state as a Level 2 sex offender with New York state on Feb. 8. He was convicted in April 2005 of third-degree rape in a case involving a 15-year-old girl. He�s currently on probation in Niagara County.

Suitor said the New York state sex offender Web site has him registered in the zip code of 14305, which falls within the City of Niagara Falls. Hudson actually lives in the zip code of 14304. Therefore, Suitor went on to say, the Niagara Falls Police Department had jurisdiction over Hudson�s case, not the town.

Suitor said according to the town�s law, Hudson now has 10 days to move his residence. He also said he�s going to contact the Niagara County Department of Probation to see how this miscommunication can be prevented in the future.

Town of Niagara law prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of any playgrounds, day-care centers or churches that give religious instruction to juveniles. In New York, a juvenile is considered to be a person under the age of 16. The town�s law is more restrictive than Niagara County�s law, which sets a 1,000 feet limit. While Suitor said the town�s law supersedes the county�s because it is more restrictive, a red flag was not raised with the county because he was not within 1,000 feet of any of the aforementioned structures.

Hudson lives within 2,000 feet of a playground.

On Friday, three residents of the town, brothers Brett and Todd Biro, along with Don Horton found out about Hudson by searching the Niagara County Sheriff�s sex offender Web site, which uses a program called Offender Watch, a national sex offender registry. New York state�s Web site does not use this program. Offender Watch had Hudson listed under the correct zip code. Horton immediately contacted the Niagara-Wheatfield School District and his town councilman, Rob Clark.

�The councilman was extremely helpful in assisting us with making phone calls to people and spreading the word about this guy,� said Horton, a father of three. �I live on the street next to this guy. It makes me sick that he could watch my 9-year-old daughter from his house and I didn�t even know about his past.�

Horton went on to say he feels much better about things after having attended the meeting and hearing what town officials planned to do about it.

�I think this went extremely well all things considered,� he said. �We found out about him on Friday, and by Sunday, he was served with papers saying he�s in violation of the town law. We as residents were not going to let this rest until something was done about it.�

Clark said the town council is going to discuss this matter further in a work session at a later date.

Both Suitor and Horton praised the cooperation between the town residents and the police department to make sure word spread quickly and the situation was taken of.

�Neighborhoods are probably the best way for people to be informed about what is happening around them,� said Suitor. �Citizens help us out with law enforcement all the time.�

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