Convicted sex offender loses suit challenging residency law

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By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Feb 29, 2008 at 8:31 AM EST

Story Updated: Sep 19, 2008 at 4:26 PM EST

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — A convicted sex offender who was forced to move by a state law can't return home. He has no rights to the property because his wife owns it, a judge ruled.

The man, identified in court records as John B. Doe, had filed a lawsuit challenging a state law that prohibits convicted sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school, public park or youth program center.

Doe, who was convicted of child seduction in 2000 and released from probation the following year, was forced to move from his home near a church that offers youth programs. He argued that the law violated his rights by unfairly punishing him again.

Judge Thomas Busch of Tippecanoe Superior Court ruled against Doe on Tuesday, noting that the home was owned by Doe's wife, not Doe, so his property rights were not violated.

Busch also noted similar challenges that had been defeated in other states.

"Under the circumstances, the court finds that injunctive relief forbidding the prosecutor and sheriff from enforcing this law in this case is not in the public interest," Busch wrote in his 11-page ruling.

Doe's lawsuit was one of three filed in Tippecanoe County challenging the law that forced 28 offenders in the area to move or be charged with a Class D felony. None of the three has succeeded in court.

Doe's attorney, Earl McCoy, did not immediately return a message seeking comment left by the Journal & Courier of Lafayette.

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Information from: Journal and Courier, http://www.jconline.com

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