Sex Offender Tenants Stir Neighbors
Sex Offender Tenants Stir Neighbors By VALERIE KALFRIN The Tampa Tribune Published: Oct 2, 2006 TAMPA - Ever since new tenants moved into 4902 E. Okara Road, the house has been a lightning rod. Neighbors were upset about the five or six registered sex offenders and sexual predators living there, on the same block as young children and within 1,000 feet of two school bus stops. City code enforcement found the house in violation of residential zoning restrictions. Now the Hillsborough County public defender's office has opened an internal investigation into the house. Spurred by a Tampa Tribune inquiry, officials said Friday that they want more information about whether an assistant public defender who co-owns the property violated ethics through the rental relationship. Four of the offenders and predators listed as tenants previously were represented by the office. "We have, and attempt to adhere to, fairly strict ethical standards," office spokesman John Skye said. "If we find anything unethical, we will deal with that harshly." He anticipated a resolution by Wednesday. Assistant Public Defender Margaret Wojcik, 60, did not personally represent the offenders and predators living at the house, court records show. She has worked as an assistant public defender since August 2001 and earns about $55,000 a year, Skye said. She and her son, former Tampa police Officer David Duncan, bought the house in July for $123,564 from Twins Investment Properties LLC. Both signed the mortgage and a "family rider" allowing them to rent the property, records show. Wojcik could not be reached Friday. Duncan, 29, is appealing his June firing and asking to be reinstated as a police officer. An internal investigation found he violated the department's sexual harassment policy and standard of conduct through sex talk over the police radio and using a cell phone to photograph a penis in a magazine as a joke about his undercover work arresting prostitutes. Reached by phone Friday, Duncan first said he could not talk because "you're on my cell phone, and my minutes aren't free." When a reporter called back to offer to call him on a different number, he said, "If you call again, I'll report you to the Tampa Police Department for harassing phone calls." Neighbors Didn't Know Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said department policy prohibits officers from associating with known felons. She did not know whether Duncan's landlord-tenant relationship would violate that policy if he were reinstated. "That's something we would have to look at if he came back to work," she said. Residents said they never anticipated their new neighbors would be sex offenders. At the Terrace Park Civic Association monthly meeting on Sept. 12, they confronted representatives from the police department and code enforcement about the issue. "I don't think it's right myself," said Bill Walters, the civic association president. "We've got an awful lot of children around." It was unclear Friday how many offenders and predators live at the house. Two of those interviewed said five live there. Florida Department of Law Enforcement records list six: two predators and four offenders. The house is within 1,000 feet of two school bus stops on North 50th Street, which does not violate any conditions of the tenants' probation, according to Jo Ellyn Rackleff, a state Department of Corrections spokeswoman. That did not soothe nearby parents. "I don't even let my kids go get the mail anymore because I don't want them to see them," said Melba Ruiz, 34, who lives across the street from the house with her three children, ages 4, 9 and 13. "On this block, there's 13 minor children," said Teresa Archer, 49, who lives next door to Ruiz. "I have a 16-year-old. I won't let him walk the dog." Archer said she also is concerned about how the tenants will affect property values. "Who's going to buy our home with that?" she said, gesturing toward the offenders' house. "We are tax-paying, law-abiding citizens. Where are our rights?" 'Everybody Makes Mistakes' Offenders and predators are responsible for finding their own living quarters, Rackleff said. Some probation officers will refer them to housing if they have no idea where to live, but "it's really up to them," she said. The officer checks each location to ensure it complies with individual probation requirements. No tenant at the Okara Road house has the same probation officer, records show. Jerrell H. Dixon, 23, a registered sex offender convicted in St. Lucie County and living at the house, said he learned about the address through the probation office and pays $400 a month for rent. He was unaware Duncan was a former police officer. "Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody's trying to make a dollar," Dixon said. Sex offenders and predators living in a residential area does not violate city code, officials said. The state allows five nonrelated people to live in an "extended family situation," for which this qualifies, said Bill Doherty, deputy director of code enforcement. Because landlords cannot rent out rooms in a residential area, code enforcement cited Wojcik and Duncan in August with operating a congregate living facility or rooming house, public records show. They are scheduled to appear Oct. 9 before a hearing master, records show. State law requires residents to be notified of a sexual predator living nearby through the reverse-911 system. Ruiz said her mother, who lives about a mile away, received the reverse-911 call and notified her. Archer said she did not receive a reverse-911 notification until about a week ago. McElroy said that agency records show one reverse-911 alert was transmitted in July and another this month. Homes that use some form of call blocking will not receive the calls, she said. Two of the tenants are being monitored by global-positioning systems, according to the Department of Corrections. Elbert Lee Carter, 44, convicted of lewd and lascivious molestation on a victim under 12, also is on community control. His probation lasts until 2036. He and Dixon said they have not spoken to their new neighbors. "They're entitled to their own opinion," said Dixon, whose probation lasts until June 2007. "I don't knock 'em for their own opinion. People are gonna be people." Carter said they keep to themselves. "We're all a little family. We look out for each other," he said. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com. http://news.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBQ11Q8SSE.html