RIverhead restricts sex offender residences

Registered sex offenders moving into the Town of Riverhead will no longer be able to establish residences within a quarter-mile of any school, day care center, library, playground, park, beach or day camp.

The Town Board passed legislation last night prohibiting level 2 and 3 sex offenders from living in proximity to places where children commonly gather. The new restrictions  are not retroactive. They also  do not apply to residents of hotels, motels and boarding houses. But the owner of those properties must give daily written notice to other residents of such hotels, motels and boarding houses that a register sex offender is living on the premises.

Many municipalities have already adopted similar restrictions, making it difficult for the county social service department to find permissible locations for homeless shelters for registered sex offenders in Suffolk. Those difficulties led to the establishment of a trailer in the parking lot of the county jail in Riverside, where the social services department has sheltered 20 or so homeless sex offenders for the past few years.

There are currently 11 level 2 or 3 registered sex offenders living within the Town of Riverhead, according to the state’s sex offender registry website. Another six registered offenders live in zip code 11901 in Southampton Town, including 21 level 2 or 3 offenders in the trailer at the jail, according to the registry.

The online database is searchable by zip code, county or offender name. Level 1 offenders are not listed online, but information is available by phone (1-800-262-3257). For information about how risk levels and designations are determined, see the state’s division of criminal justice services website  {jcomments on}