State records: Bellport residence is housing 10 registered sex offenders

<p>Several Long Island residents have complained to News 12 Long Island about situations in their communities where a number of registered sex offenders occupy the same home.</p>

News 12 Staff

Feb 20, 2018, 7:48 PM

Updated 2,429 days ago

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Several Long Island residents have complained to News 12 Long Island about situations in their communities where a number of registered sex offenders occupy the same home.
According to state records, there are currently 10 registered sex offenders living in one home on Walker Avenue in Bellport. 
State records show that eight of the 10 offenders in the home are on parole, meaning they were placed there by the state Division of Parole. 
Laura Ahearn, with Parents for Megan's Law, says this shouldn't be happening under current state guidelines that read, "All reasonable efforts should be made to avoid an ill-advised concentration of sex offenders in certain neighborhoods and localities."
"It's not safe in the community, especially in a residential neighborhood where there are children everywhere," says Ahearn. 
State records also show there are multiple homes in Suffolk County that house numerous sex offenders – including 426 Auborn Ave. in Shirley, 461 Glen Drive in Shirley and 92 Homestead Drive in Coram.
Mary Barone, a child rape survivor, says she has been tracking the placement of sex offenders for years. She says too many offenders are being put in low-income neighborhoods. 
"Our government is doing this to us. It's not right," says Barone.
News 12 reached out to the Division of Parole, who said the sex offenders are strictly monitored and supervised after they choose a place to live.
The Town of Brookhaven had a law on the books which said only two sex offenders could live in any one house. That was struck down by a state Court of Appeals decision in 2015.