CARMEL — Sex offenders living in housing provided by Putnam County will soon wear monitoring bracelets courtesy of the state.
The
extra oversight comes at the county’s request as its Department of
Social Services deals with two offenders recently released from prison.
“We’re
trying to do the best we can to make sure the public at large is
protected,” Putnam County Executive Mary Ellen Odell said Monday.
The
county is still expecting the arrival soon of a third, homeless sex
offender it will have to house. The first was Lance Smith, a Level 3 sex
offender who moved into an apartment in Carmel near schools and a
school bus stop in February. The second, Hans Kaschura, another Level 3
offender, moved into a one-bedroom trailer behind Department of Social
Services building in late March, after county officials could not find
an apartment for him.
Putnam,
like other counties, is required by state law to house the homeless.
The men’s classifications as sex offenders are unrelated to the county’s
role.
Odell said
the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision will use
GPS to keep tabs on Smith and Kaschura. Peter Cutler, a spokesman for
the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, said the
bracelets will allow parole officers to remotely check in on their
charges. That is in addition to the “regular and routine monitoring” and
curfews to which the men must adhere.
Odell
also said the county was close to finding a site where Putnam could
house several homeless sex offenders together. She described the
location as relatively remote but declined to divulge details until the
matter was finalized.
In
the meantime, Kaschura will soon spend a weekend elsewhere, county
officials said Monday. That’s because his trailer sits on the Donald B.
Smith campus in Carmel, which will host the seventh annual Children’s
Expo and Public Safety Day on May 12.
Hamburgers,
hot dogs, the chance to sit on a fire truck and other fun activities
will be available in a parking lot on the opposite side of the building
from his trailer.
“We
have been guaranteed he will not be there that day,” said Marla Behler,
the Child Advocacy Center’s program coordinator. “We have been
promised.”
The center, along with the county Bureau of Emergency Services, is sponsoring the event.
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