Some registrants decided to sue the county over residency restriction laws, so this corrupt piece of trash sent out his goons to harass the registrants to dissuade them from continuing with the lawsuit, even AFTER a judge warned them not to. This pig should be held in contempt of court.
Lawyer suing Pasco County wants Sheriff Chris Nocco held in contempt; sheriff calls allegations "baseless"
Josh Solomon, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 5, 2016 4:47pm
An attorney wants a judge to find Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco in contempt of a court order protecting sex offenders who are suing the county from being harassed by Nocco's deputies.
The contempt motion was filed by defense attorney Patrick Leduc on Tuesday, one day after a deputy visited one of the sex offenders who joined Leduc's lawsuit. The attorney called the deputy's visit "intimidation" that amounted to "a threat."
Nocco said the allegations are "completely baseless." The Pasco County Sheriff's Office says it was just doing its job, routinely checking on sex offenders who are on probation.
Leduc is suing the county on behalf of three sex offenders to overturn a 2015 ordinance that severely restricts where certain newly classified sex offenders can live in Pasco County.
The attorney's latest motion asks a judge to hold Nocco in contempt for violating an order issued March 30 that barred county personnel, including sheriff's deputies, from contacting the sex offenders suing the county or offering them legal advice.
The protective order was issued last week after Leduc complained that two deputies visited a sex offender on March 15 and tried to dissuade him from joining the lawsuit.
Leduc asserts in his latest motion that patrol Deputy Peter Collazo violated the protective order on Monday. The deputy visited Scott Wright, 42, a sex offender and plaintiff in the lawsuit against the county.
"We are going to be seeing you a lot more often based on recent events," the deputy told Wright, according to Leduc's contempt motion.
However, sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said the deputy never mentioned the lawsuit or the county ordinance during his visit. Patrol deputies like Collazo routinely conduct checks on probationers and sex offenders.
Luke Lirot, an attorney hired by Pasco County to defend the ordinance, said the judge's order does not prevent deputies from doing police work, such as monitoring sex offenders.
"So, any conversation that does not discuss the case," Lirot said, "even one including pointed frivolities or harsh statements of opinion, would not violate the order as I read it."
The Sheriff's Office sent footage from Collazo's body camera to the Tampa Bay Times to show that the deputy did nothing out of line.
The video shows Collazo walk up to Wright's house and ask to see his driver's license.
"I don't know if anybody's told your or not," Collazo told Wright, "they're having patrol deputies now step up a little bit and make more contact."
In the video, Wright said his most recent visit from a deputy took place a month ago.
"I don't mind," Wright told the deputy. "The only thing I ask of you guys is … just be cool with my kids."
"There's been a lot of unfortunate situations that have occurred that have prompted this," Collazo told Wright, then specifically referred to two incidents: when John Jonchuck threw his 5-year-old daughter, Pheobe, off the approach to the Sunshine Skyway bridge in January 2015; and when 11-year-old Janiya Thomas was found dead in a padlocked freezer in Bradenton in October. Neither incident, however, involved sex offenders.
Doll said the Sheriff's Office has gone above and beyond what the state requires to check on sex offenders.
"The worst thing that can happen is for something horrible to happen because of a lack of supervision," Doll said.
The deputy and Wright spoke for about four minutes, then shook hands. Leduc's motion said the deputy spent 15 minutes with his client.
Leduc is suing Pasco to challenge the constitutionality of a new ordinance that prohibits certain sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of schools, child care facilities, parks, playgrounds and libraries. It's more than twice as restrictive as the state's 1,000-foot limit.
Lawyer suing Pasco County wants Sheriff Chris Nocco held in contempt; sheriff calls allegations "baseless" 04/05/16 [Last modified: Tuesday, April 5, 2016 9:53pm]
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