Protect the Public Safety of Franklin's Community

The State siting committee has announced Franklin as a potential site for the proposed group transitional facility for Sexual Predators. As many as 14 convicted sexual predators would live in the facility. The address for Franklin's proposed site is 9201 S. 68th Street. There is a strong community opposition to this facility being located in Franklin. We believe this facility will jeopardize the public safety of residents of Franklin beyond the capacity of local and state law enforcement. We believe as a community that there is no safe place within the city borders to place such a facility, without putting our city's most vulnerable, children and elderly, at a substantial risk.

The proposed facility will have the capacity to house 12-14 convicted sexually violent predators, including:

---Billy Lee Morford: 4X convicted child molester, admits to 25 assaults
since 1968, claiming that none of the children he molested were
abducted. He claims he built their trust first, then, assaulted them
(source: jsonline.com)

---Robert Carney: 50 year history of convictions for sex crimes against
children (source: jsonline.com) "He has never done treatment. He
believes the girls he assaulted consented and wanted it, and they are 9-
and 10-year-old girls. He does not appreciate the wrong he did."
(source: prosecutor Rebecca Dallet/jsonline.com 9/21/03)

No known "Cure" for Sex Offenders:

---The facility will house individuals who are transitioning back into
society, after serving their sentences. These individuals have been
convicted under Chapter 980. Chapter 980 is a law for the treatment of
sexually violent offenders. There is no known "cure" for sex
offenders. Treatment is provided during incarceration, but only in an
effort to help them change their behaviors. At least one of the
individuals who will reside in this facility has refused any treatment,
Billy Lee Morford. (source: http://www.offender.doc.state.wi.us/public/)

Child Molesters have higher rate of recividism, expecially if placed in a "stressful" or "hostile" environment

---It is unlawful to harass a released, convicted sexual offender.
However, the current residence of Billy Lee Morford in a northside
Milwaukee rented home, has been egged, stoned and repeatedly vandalized.
According to the state's own registry for sexual offenders FAQ, these
individuals are more likely to re-offend if placed in a stressful or
hostile environment. Placing such a group facility with a publicized
address, within a growing community of 31K + residents, without adequate
supervision, will create a stressful environment for these individuals,
thereby increasing the risk of reoffense.
(source: http://www.offender.doc.state.wi.us/public/)

Unrealistic to expect local law enforcement to provide adequate supervision sufficient to eliminate a risk to the community's most vulnerable: elderly, disabled and children

---No amount of public/community awareness will ensure the safety and
freedom for children and those most vulnerable in the community. As
quoted from pbs.org -- "Secrecy is the child molester's stock-in-trade.
They act behind closed doors and when others' backs are turned. Child
molesters threaten, cajole and use their positions of trust or power to
ensure that their victims do not expose them." (source: pbs.com)
Less than a mile's radius away from the address of the proposed
transitional facility are the homes of over a thousand children and
elderly residents, daycare facilities, proposed/planned sites for future
elementary schools, and parks and athletic fields. It is unrealistic to
expect local police and social workers to provide a level of supervision
sufficient to eliminate a risk. This transitional facility will change
the perception of safety in this community. (source: ww.steveolson.us -
- report on Franklin statistics) "15 of 32 men released on
supervision since 1994 (Wisconsin Chapter 980 passed), have been returned
to secure facilities - or face pending efforts to return them - because
of rule violations" (source: jsonline.com - 9/21/03)


For the foregoing and additional reasons, we the undersigned are firmly opposed to a sexual predator transitional facility in Franklin.