As of Sunday, Shannon Benson will be a free man, and will be living here in Rochester. More specifically, he'll be living in the 700 block of 1st St. SW (the Dorothy Day House, I presume). He was convicted in the 1990's for four sexually related crimes against minors (he was also a juvenile at the time). He is now 27 years old. His plan is to attend classes at RCTC. Because he served his entire sentence, once released, he will not be under any supervision, although as part of his level 3 status, he will have to make his living situation, and I believe his work status known to authorities for up to ten years. His level 3 status means that he is more likely to re-offend than either a level 1 or level 2 offender is.
The city held a notification meeting Wednesday evening to inform the community of Shannon's release, and to answer questions that people had in regards to his history. Quite a few people from the Kutzky Park neighborhood were in attendance, as they're obviously concerned about Shannon's plans to live in their neighborhood. One gentleman that spoke up expressed his concerns over Shannon's choice of residence as he lives in the immediate vicinity and has three young daughters. I feel for him, and the concern I know he must have for his girls' safety.
I don't have any children, but still nearly lost my mind when I was told just over a year ago that a transitional house for offenders (inclusive of sex offenders) was going to be placed on my street. My neighbors and I quickly rallied to show the City that our street had far too many children, single women & elderly to allow a house such as this. We succeeded in prohibiting the transition house, although we now have a group of people living in the house that I fear may be working their way in to the criminal justice system, rather than staying there on their way out...but that's a whole other story! At the time, the thought of all of our neighborhood children being in any way exposed to the offenders staying in that house....well, it frightened me. Through the education I received while serving on a committee the City organized to propose a zoning solution for dealing with any future proposed transition houses, I can say that I've gone from being frightened to being, I'd say, concerned about the placement of these transition houses. Is this because I know there won't be one on my street...possibly, but I do believe that I've learned quite a bit about the need for offender transition houses, and the likelihood that one of the offenders transitioning there would re-offend against a person or place in the immediate area. I hope it's this information that has reduced my fear to concern, and not merely the knowledge that there won't be one placed on my street.
I've gotten off the topic of Shannon directly, but because of the experience I've had over the past year with the transition house issue, I feel empathy for the concerned (and maybe fearful) residents of Kutzky. They may have some sleepless nights ahead of them, especially the parents who live nearby.
Let's hope that time, an education, and a community with watchful eyes will help see that Shannon becomes a law abiding and respectful member of our city. It was suggested at the meeting that it may be a good idea for neighbors to introduce themselves to Shannon, if the opportunity presents itself, and to let him know that it's their hope that he has taken care of his past problems and also to let him know that the neighbors will be encouraging his reintegration in to the community by maintaining what I'd call a visual relationship with him...in other words, they'll be keeping an eye on him. I thought this was an excellent idea. Yes, he's served his time, paid his debt to society...but, I see nothing wrong in letting him know that we have a vested interest in him choosing to walk the straight and narrow now that he's part of our community again. Once again, let's hope (& pray) that this is what happens.
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