Part I in a series on Indiana Sex Offenders

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Every city faces issues with convicted sex offenders, from employment and housing to maintaining their address and employment information with the states sex offender registry. If you check the Indiana sex offender registry you will find that numerous locations with multiple offenders residing in the same location or building.

Indianapolis is home to the Indy East Motel which is located at 5855 E Washington Street. Click here for a map. Its location is central to the Historic neighborhood of Irvington, once home to Butler University.

From a recent issue of Indianapolis Monthly Magazine:

Irvington
Eclectic and family-friendly on the east side
It would be tough to find another Indianapolis neighborhood with the kind of housing diversity Irvington offers, both in pricing and home styles. Houses – Tudors, Colonials, Queen Annes and Craftsman bungalows – are available in all stages of repair and disrepair, making it possible to pick up a $125,000 cottage in need of cosmetic help or a $200,000 ready-to-move-in home.

Once home to Butler University, Irvington was originally established by Quaker abolitionists as a railroad suburb in the 1870’s. It’s a close-knit neighborhood with everything from a garden club to a hugely popular Halloween Festival. (Did we mention Irvington is named after Washington Irving, author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow?) Ellenberger Park, the neighborhood’s epicenter, has seasonal delights such as a farmers’ market and an ice-skating rink. And with commercial Washington Street dividing this community of 5,000 homes, Irvington might be on trendy, bar-filled strip away from a comparison to another inside-the-perimeter Indianapolis neighborhood. “It is so much like Broad Ripple in a lot of respects,” says Lana Detro of Ala Carte Realty. “It’s a diamond in the rough. We’re going to see a real surge in that market.”

Family friendly indeed.

Over the last few years the city has claimed the Indy East Motel has became a haven for crime and prostitution.  Since 2001 the Indianapolis Police Department has made more than 900 runs to the motel.

In October 2006 the City of Indianapolis moved to revoke its motel license and the owners of the facility have appealed that ruling. On Tuesday March 13th attorneys for the Indy East Motel and the City of Indianapolis met with Judge Michael Keele for a pre-trial hearing regarding the revocation of their license. Residents of the community were not allowed to attend the hearing. Judge Keele set the hearing for Thursday April 5th at 9:00 a.m.

As of last Thursday the Indiana State Sex Offender Registry showed 30 convicted sex offenders living at the Indy East Motel. Among their convictions; sexual battery, rape and child molesting. In a recent conversation with Justin Ohlemiller, press secretary for Mayor Bart Peterson we discovered the City of Indianapolis while not aware that a such a large cluster of sex offenders were living at the Indy East, they were not surprised by it either.

“It’s not surprising [to know the number of sex offenders].  The Indy East has been a haven for blight and crime for years. That’s why we’ve taken aggressive action to shut the place down.

“A crime den like this has no place in any neighborhood.  We’re going to continue our push to make sure it’s check out time for good at the Indy East”, stated Justin Ohlemiller from the mayor’s office.

The facility is owned by the Patel family according to the Marion County property tax records. I spoke with Mr. Nick Patel last Thursday about the city’s attempts to close his motel. He cited that at one time they worked with the city allowing the police to come in and cross-check the guest registry for warrants. In light of the recent events they now no longer do that. I then asked him the larger question. “Is the city aware that according to the Sex Offender Registry you have 30 convicted sex offenders living there?”

Mr. Patel claimed that maybe 5 or 6 were still living there and he had contacted the sheriff’s department via a letter to that effect. According to the registry 4 sex offenders have moved into the Indy East within the last 7 days and 3 moved out. On any given day there are at least one or two coming and going according to the registry.

I then asked Mr. Patel if he was working with the local parole board to house the offenders and he replied indeed he was. He also acknowledged receiving payment from the state for the sex offenders to live there. “Yes, they pay me for their first month in most cases, some only one or two weeks” said Patel. But he claimed again that many of them move out and never change their address with the registry.

The Indiana Department of corrections was contacted and asked several question regarding housing for released sex offenders. IDOC spokesperson Javairya Ahmed stated “Currently there are twenty-one parolees at the Indy East Motel, an apartment efficiency complex. All parolees living there, including sex offenders, must comply with conditions of release which include maintaining compliance with registration requirements.  Registration must take place before they can qualify for the Social Security Incentive Fund.”

I’m not sure where she got her numbers, bit I ago I got this screen shot minutes ago from the Indiana Sex Offender Registry showing 29 sex offenders at the Indy East as of today.

Ahmed also provided this information.

Here is more on how the SFI’s work: www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10088.html the title is Incentive Payments for State and Local Institutions Under Social Security Programs.   The incentive payments that we receive are for reporting that we have incarcerated persons that are receiving Social Security payments.  Statewide, there only 26 parolees on the Social Security Incentive Fund. The  funding lasts up to 30 days which is designed to be a transitional phase until the offender finds alternate housing arrangements. The money is directly paid to the landlord. At all times, the parolees are on intensive supervision: weekly reporting, impromptu resident visits and registering every seven days. This increases the registration responsibility and makes the parolee more accountable.

All the identified locations of these transitional housing providers meet the criteria of statute concerning the 1,000 feet rule.

Six months prior to the offender’s release the re-entry plan is submitted, and investigated by the facility and the parole division, if the offender does not have an appropriate housing, support system, and/or financial assets, the case is reviewed by the parole agent and parole supervisor, for the purpose of requesting housing assistance.

The locations selected, must meet all statutory requirements for sex offender restrictions regarding schools, parks, day care centers and youth service programs and the proprietor must be willing to accept the offender.

Parole agents are required by policy to visit all proposed placement locations prior to the location being approved for an offender.

That may be the policy however I did ask if anyone had ever visited the Indy East and that question was not answered. She also informed us that the average compensation per parole is about $600 per month.

In a conversation yesterday with the Marion County Sheriff’s department, we questioned Lieutenant Doug Scheffel and asked if the Sheriff’s department had ever gone to the motel to verify that the offenders listed were indeed staying there. Lieutenant Scheffel informed us that each member of the Sheriff’s Department is assigned a sex offender to monitor, including the sheriff. The recently combined sheriff’s department and Indianapolis police departments have 1600 members and they constantly monitor sex offenders for having up-to-date and correct address and employment information on the sex offender’s registry. What a novel idea.

By all appearances Mr. Patel seems to be aware of the large number of sex offenders.

Fort Wayne has many similar cases and we will address those in an upcoming story. We did check with Reverend Jim Dance, President of the Fort Wayne Rescue Mission. Readers of this column have been informed in the past of the high volume of sex offenders that pass in and out of the mission. According to Rev. Dance their policy is to not accept payments and to offer the same opportunities to sex offenders as any other homeless person.

As of yesterday there were six sex offenders residing at the mission on West Superior Street in Fort Wayne, three of which are convicted child molesters.

Copyright © 2007 Dan Turkette

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