Providence RI's Luis Aponte wants to make his city the Miami of the North. Guess what else he has in common with MIami?

I guess Providence RI wants to be the Miami FL of the north. I guess Luis Aponte wants RI'ers to forget about the fact he is facing prison time himself. Interestingly, Ron Book, the guy responsible for the mess in Miami was also convicted of crimes related to campaign contributions, just like Aponte is facing now. Obviously Aponte's pending conviction is the reason for this Hail Mary tactic.

https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/providence/councilman-aponte-seeks-to-ban-sex-offenders-from-child-safety-zones/1534342549

Councilman Aponte seeks to ban sex offenders from ‘child safety zones'
By:  Dan McGowan
Posted: Oct 18, 2018 08:00 PM EDT

Updated: Oct 18, 2018 08:00 PM EDT

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – As Washington Park residents continue their efforts to drive a convicted child rapist out of their neighborhood, their councilman has put forward a proposal that would ban registered sex offenders from residing near schools or other facilities frequently visited by kids.

Councilman Luis Aponte, a Democrat from Ward 10, introduced an ordinance Thursday that would prohibit registered sex offenders from living within a 500-foot radius of a “child safety zones,” which would include schools, daycares or recreational areas.

The ordinance would also ban the ex-cons from “entering upon or loitering” within 500 feet of the same facilities. Violators would be subject to fines of $250 on the first offense, $350 on the second offense and $500 for all subsequent violations.

“This is an immediate reaction given some of the things I heard last night,” Aponte told Eyewitness News, referring to a contentious neighborhood meeting attended by more than 200 residents Wednesday after they learned a man convicted of sexually assaulting children in Warwick and Massachusetts in the late 1980s was released from prison and moved to Washington Park last week.

Aponte said he modeled his proposal after other ordinances approved in communities across the country, including Lincoln.

“This is not a foreign concept,” Aponte said. The ordinance was co-sponsored by 11 of Aponte’s Democratic colleagues and referred to the Ordinance Committee. (Three councilors were absent.)

Residents were outraged this week to learn ex-con Richard Gardner moved to a home in Washington Park. After Wednesday’s community meeting, they rallied outside his residence. The neighbors planned to continue protesting Gardner Thursday night.

Gardner’s situation is unique because his offenses pre-date Megan's Law, a measure that led to the federal government requiring that all states establish sex offender registries, meaning there's no requirement to inform the community about where he lives. Mayor Jorge Elorza has promised to keep a police detail on Gardner to ensure he doesn’t re-offend.

There are currently more than 500 registered sex offenders living in Providence, according to police.

Aponte acknowledged his proposal would not apply to Gardner because he already lives in Washington Park, but he said he’s hopeful it will address future situations. He said the area around Gardner’s residence has several small home daycares where individuals take care of children, so he wants to ensure no sex offenders can live in the area going forward.

A spokesperson for Elorza said the administration intends to review the proposal before commenting.

Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza procliaims registered person has "given up his right" to be in his community

There are plenty of Shiitake-worthy people in this article, but I'll settle on Mayor Jorge Elorza, mayor of Providence RI, for the comments suggesting he gets to decide who lives in Providence and who does not.

http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20181017/providence-neighbors-protest-outside-child-rapist-home

Providence neighbors protest outside child rapist home

By
Madeleine List
Journal Staff Writer

Posted Oct 17, 2018 at 9:24 PM
Updated at 7:53 AM

Residents of the Washington Park neighborhood met Wednesday night to discuss the arrival of a new neighbor — a convicted child rapist recently released from prison in Massachusetts.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Washington Park Neighborhood Association meeting Wednesday night attracted hundreds of residents and ended with dozens of them protesting outside the home of a registered sex offender convicted of sexually assaulting children.

Outraged residents chanted, “We want him out!” and “Que se vaya!” and shone flashlights into the windows of 207 New York Ave., where the offender, Richard Gardner, moved in with his fiancée last week.

“We don’t feel safe in the neighborhood,” said Erlina Pichardo, speaking in Spanish. She lives in a house across the street from Gardner and has a 13-year-old son. “I’m scared.”

Gardner was convicted in 1989 of kidnapping and sexually assaulting three boys between the ages of 6 and 10 in the Warwick area. He was released last Thursday from a Massachusetts facility where he was serving time for a probation violation, and notified the Providence Police Department later that day that he was moving to New York Avenue.

Because Gardner was convicted before the passage of Megan’s Law, a 1996 law that requires sex offenders to register publicly and the community to be notified when they move into a neighborhood, he does not appear on the state’s list of sex offenders.

He is required to register with the police every time he moves, but that information is not made public, said Providence Officer Timothy Rudd, who manages the city’s sex offenders.

Ward 10 City Councilman Luis Aponte, though, said he found out that Gardner had moved into the neighborhood when he got an “unofficial heads up” from someone in the Police Department.

News spread fast, and the topic was added to the agenda of the Washington Park Neighborhood Association’s Wednesday meeting.

“It’s scary,” said Jennifer Ramirez, 29, who attended the meeting. “I have an 8-year-old son that’s always outside.”

Hundreds of people crowded into the Washington Park Community Center for the standing-room only meeting that often devolved into shouting and chaos.

Residents yelled when Rudd told them that Gardner declined to wear a GPS ankle bracelet, which he is not required by law to wear. “What about our rights!?” “This is bull----!”

Police told residents that Gardner, who is currently on probation, is not allowed to go within 300 feet of a school and that officers would check on his residence frequently and increase their patrols in the neighborhood. Beyond that, they said, there wasn’t much they could do.

“We’re going to be as vigilant as we possibly can be,” Rudd said.

But that didn’t satisfy residents.

“We don’t want him here!” they shouted.

Aponte tried to keep the peace.

"The Police Department did not put this guy here,” he said. “Us yelling at them is not going to change the circumstances.”

Mayor Jorge Elorza said he approved overtime for a police detail to monitor Gardner around the clock and make sure he doesn’t re-offend. Providence police Maj. David Lapatin said two officers will be stationed outside Gardner’s house, and will follow him each time he leaves, 24 hours a day, indefinitely.

“When I read about what this guy, what this predator, has done — it is absolutely heinous,” Elorza said. “He has given up his right to be here in the community.

“He does not belong in our city. He does not belong in our community,” he said. “I want every parent to know that we will not stop until this is absolutely addressed. I’ll say it one more time: He has no place in our community. Period.”

State lawmakers in attendance also pledged to introduce a bill, when the legislative session starts, to place more restrictions on where sex offenders can go, and to rewrite the law governing community notification.

But residents said they didn’t want to wait for laws to change, and were eager to take matters into their own hands.

Lisa Scorpio, a community activist, said she planned to get a group together to return to Gardner’s home every night to protest and implore him to leave.

“Cold, rain, whatever,” she said. “Six o’clock. Every night.”

(Correction: An earlier version of this story reported that Gardner is on parole. He’s on probation.)

— mlist@providencejournal.com

Kerri Kelleher of Cranston RI thinks she knows what registrants talk about when they hang out. Someone educate this idiot!

Coincidentally, the first thing I thought of when seeing this quote is THIS CLIP from Family Guy, which is set in a fictional town in Rhode Island. Feel free to Tweet to Kerri Kelleher and tell her how you feel about her comment.

http://www.abc6.com/story/38080129/cranston-residents-concerned-about-sex-offenders-criminally-insane-living-nearby

Cranston residents concerned about sex offenders, criminally insane living nearby
Posted: May 01, 2018 12:53 AM EDT
Updated: May 01, 2018 12:53 AM EDT

By John Krinjak

Email: jkrinjak@abc6.com

Twitter: @johnkrinjakABC6

CRANSTON, R.I. (WLNE) -- Cranston East High School hosted a forum Monday night that many feel is long overdue, about a growing list of unwanted neighbors for those who live along Roosevelt and Pontiac Avenues.

"With Cranston being the receiving community of not only sex offenders but now the criminally insane, our residents need to be aware of it," said Rep. Robert Lancia.

Since 2012, the sex offender population at Harrington Hall on Howard Ave has been steadily growing--now hovering around 30.

"If you go hang out with your knitting buddies, you're probably going to talk about knitting. If you're out with people who like baseball, you're probably going to talk about baseball. What does anybody think the sex offenders are hanging out talking about? It's not baseball," said Kerri Kelleher, who helped organize the forum. 

Many residents are terrified about this cluster of predators just steps away from residential neighborhoods.

"My 8 year old doesn't know what any of them look like and that's really my biggest concern//we're stuck. And there's a lot of neighborhoods off of Mayfield Avenue with a lot of kids in them," said Cranston resident Kate Caito.

As if that's not enough, the Roosevelt Benton Center, formerly part of the Rhode Island Training School, will soon be home to a population of criminally insane inmates.

"They've been problematic in prison. To think that they're going to be in a less secured setting could create a real nightmare for everyone," said Richard Ferruccio, president of the Rhode Island Brotherhood of Correctional Officers.

Some residents are thinking about leaving--saying they just don't feel safe in the city.

"It's very alarming. Makes me want to put my house on the market, actually, and move," said Cranston resident Laura Laviano.

There is currently legislation in the works to limit the number of sex offenders at any one homeless shelter, but it's being held up by a lawsuit from the ACLU.

Many neighbors say city officials should be taking more of a lead here, though members of the city council and a representative for Mayor Allen Fung were in attendance.