Androscoggin County is giving lots of attention to released criminals.
LEWISTON – Convicted sex offenders who choose Androscoggin County as their home when they are freed from prison should be aware of one fact: nowhere else in Maine will they receive so much attention, from police and others in the community.
That message more than any other was stressed Friday night at a meeting involving police, probation officials, medical experts and counselors.
“This county is light-years ahead of others in dealing with sex offenders,” said Mike Simoneau, a probation officer and sex offender specialist.
Convicted rapists and child molesters will not be able to shop in this county for the best area to evade detection. Police departments from city to city and town to town are coordinating to make sure they all react in similar ways when an offender moves in.
“This really disrupts that cloak of secrecy the offender has been working in,” Simoneau said.
Lewiston police announced they will now notify the community whenever a convicted sex offender moves here. In the past, police only made public notifications if an offender was considered a high risk to the community.
“The chief now wants us to inform neighbors of any offender who is required to register,” said Detective Dan Stone, the department’s Child Emergency Response Coordinator.
Psychiatric experts who treat sex offenders as part of probation conditions want no one to suffer the illusion that probation and therapy are cure-alls.
“You need to assume that any offender is potentially dangerous to anyone who is vulnerable,” said Scott Efland, a social worker who provides therapy to convicted sex offenders. “They cannot be cured but they can be treated. The goal is to reduce the risk.”
Efland lets his clients know that he has an obligation to alert police or child protective agencies if he feels there is a risk to the community. His clients submit to lie-detector tests. And he plainly encourages neighbors to speak up if a sex offender appears to be getting out of line.
“It’s very important for people in the community to report any suspicious activity, no matter how minor it may seem,” Efland said. “I also think it’s important to tell children about an offender living in the neighborhood, to show them that person’s picture on the Web site. You want to make an intervention before a child is molested, not after.”
Paula Robinson, response team coordinator for the Sexual Abuse Crisis Center, said that organization encourages people to notify them if they have concerns about a sex offender.
“We will talk to anyone who is apprehensive after finding out there’s a sex offender living in the neighborhood,” Robinson said.
Police in Lewiston and Auburn have similar approaches to sex offenders who move here. They alert officials from schools, libraries, community centers and other places children are known to gather. They also coordinate with police from the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office so offenders living in smaller towns get the same supervision.
Simoneau is known for his tough stance toward sex offenders. He prevents them from moving here when he can. When he can’t, he makes sure the offender abides by conditions of probation as much as possible.
“I’m always going to err on the side of caution, on the side of public safety, as opposed on erring on the side of the offender,” Simoneau said. “But I can’t be out there seven days a week, 24 hours a day. I really need everybody – police and neighbors – to be my eyes and ears.”
The meeting was attended by a handful of residents, many with comments or questions about the notification system.
Guy Mahon, who recently spread fliers to alert neighbors to an out-of-state rapist visiting a relative on Poland Road in Auburn, is all for public involvement. He believes police should get photos of sex offenders into the community as soon as possible. He applauds the state’s decision to post all sex offenders living here on a Web site.
“You can never stop being innovative enough to show people in the community what these offenders look like,” he said.
At the meeting, police distributed a photo of a man who recently moved to Wilson Street in Lewiston after serving prison time for molesting children.
Jason Clair, 43, moved to Lewiston after he was convicted in 2001 of gross sexual assault and sexual abuse of minor in Chesterville. The conviction stems from Claire’s sexual abuse of two girls between the ages of 11 and 14. In that case, it was a school guidance counselor who tipped off police.
The panel of experts at the Friday night meeting encouraged residents to regard Claire as they should all registered sex offenders. Leave him alone, but stay alert and report anything that seems suspicious.
“People in the community, parents, need to trust their instincts,” Efland said. “If something makes you uncomfortable, maybe is should make you uncomfortable.”
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