Town says it can’t evict convict
LISBON – More than 50 residents of the Summer Street-Edgecomb Road area in Lisbon Falls who had hoped to have a convicted sex offender evicted from their neighborhood Tuesday night were told the town doesn’t have that authority.
“The town has no authority whatsoever to evict. The town has no authority to tell people where they can live. My opinion is there is no legal basis for eviction,” said town attorney Roger Therriault.
Residents were also told the town has no authority to enact any local laws to address the problem, that only state laws are applicable.
In response to claims that other towns had evicted offenders, Therriault said he was “not aware of any towns that have gone through the eviction process.”
Dennis Litalien, along with his wife, Valerie, of 140 Summer Street, who were chosen to speak on behalf of worried parents in their neighborhood, asked selectmen to take steps to evict 49-year-old Langdon Green.
Litalien said there are 35 children under the age of 16 in the neighborhood and another 39 children under 16 who come to the area. Green lives 710 feet from David and Tina Judd’s Daycare. Others said they had previously felt “safe and secure” in their neighborhood, but “now feel we’re are being held prisoners” and “in constant fear.” It was noted Green had lost his job since the publicity erupted, but this was not confirmed.
Selectmen were sympathetic, saying they were parents and grandparents themselves, but there was nothing they could do. It was suggested residents form a neighborhood crime watch group and tell their children where the “safe houses” are.
Police Chief David Brooks said he drives through the area himself to get home. He told worried parents his officers have already started patrolling the area more frequently, but that otherwise his “hands are tied.”
When pressed for more details about Green, Brooks said there was some relationship to his victim, but he “didn’t know exactly. It wasn’t a stranger.”
He said Green had not been convicted of any other sex offenses, which did little to calm parents. One mother said just because he hadn’t been caught before, it didn’t mean he had not committed other offenses.
According to Brooks, Green, who is not from Lisbon, was sentenced to four years in prison for gross sexual assault. All but nine months of his sentence were suspended, and he served six-and-a-half months. The terms of his release were set by the court, Brooks said.
“We hear you and have the same concerns you have,” he said.
There will be a community meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the town office where Green’s probation officer and a representative from the Sexual Assault Crisis Center will answer questions from worried parents that local officials were unable to answer Tuesday.
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