Up to 280 sex offenders could be housed in East Baton Rouge in the case of an emergency. A proposed sex offender shelter would be in on Irene Road in Zachary, La. in East Baton Rouge Parish. More than a dozen families live on Irene Road. The parish has filed a lawsuit, saying that although Act 285 of the Louisiana legislature prohibits sex offenders from being housed with other evacuees, they do not have to be housed in the same shelter. The case is currently under consideration by District Judge Curtis Calloway. Act 285 is a good thing – it keeps sex offenders separate from being sheltered with the general public while securing shelter for those sex offenders. But the haphazard implementation of this act is disturbing. Social worker Christopher Velardo counsels sex offenders on a daily basis. He told The Daily Reveille the state’s current plans for a sex offender shelter add up to nothing more than a quick fix. He fears for the safety of his patients if they are forced to live with hundreds of sex offenders. He also said that an increase of sex offenders in a town may lead to an increase in sex crimes in that area. The Louisiana State Police plans to register and monitor the evacuees at the site. But these sex offenders are not prisoners. They have the freedom to come and go as they wish from the proposed shelter. Gerald Simmons, Irene Road resident, told The Daily Reveille he is concerned for his neighborhood. “The state police, sheriff’s department and National Guard are going to have their hands full [in an emergency]. They don’t have time to guard sex offenders,” he said. The state should not house these people at a site they do not have the power to control. Both the sex offenders and those living near the proposed shelter need proper protection, something the current plan does not offer. This needs to be openly discussed. A quick-fix plan will not work here.
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