Laws that are written quickly tend to lead open the Pandora’s Box of the Law of Unintended Consequences.  In Florida, this is exactly what’s happening now, and this trend might start even in other parts of the country with sex offenders.  Strict laws keeping sex offenders living near churches, schools, and places where children can congregate, have been enacted by states and municipalities across the country.  The fatality of this lurks behind the intelligent surface that makes the politicians look great.

Sex offenders are now clustering together as a result of unyielding restrictions when it comes to their whereabouts.  There are only small pockets in the communities where they can live. Randy Young, a fellow sex offender, is capitalizing on this and has become a landlord to sex offenders.  After learning about the laws in the state, he scouted out properties where these sex offenders can live legally and rents them out to the criminals after they have been released from prison.

Sex offenders, like other criminals, obviously need spiritual direction more than ordinary people.  They are the ones who must be suffering from psychological problems rooted in their childhood or other traumatic experiences in the past.  They are the ones who need the guidance or perhaps counseling of people who know better and are willing to help.  But with this law, we are seeing clusters of sex offender communities where these folks would instead discuss their grudges, techniques and illness.

Registered himself, Young owns seven Central Florida properties and manages two dozen more that he rents to offenders. His enterprise is known as “Habitat for Sex Offenders.”

Florida Today reads:

“When I first got out and tried to find a place to live, it was very difficult,” Young said, describing his properties as safe havens. “The first day you get out is scary. You don’t know what’s going to happen to you.”

Florida law requires a 1,000-foot buffer between registered sex offenders and schools, day-care centers, parks, churches or libraries. Finding that kind of location — as well as a willing landlord — can be tricky.