Question by ??????? Mrs. Moses ???????: Should convicted rapists be allowed to live in a halfway house for recovering addicts?
A close male member of my immediate family currently lives in a halfway house, after completing a 28-day drug addiction in-patient treatment program. He has lived in the house, which holds a maximum of 13 men, for 5 months now, and will have completed the 6 month program very soon. It is important to him for personal and legal reasons that he stay living in the house until he completes the program. He is serious about his recovery, and has been working hard to change his old behaviors, ways of thinking, and coping mechanisms. He does everything he is supposed to do, including regularly attending NA meetings, keeping with the house rules, and being open about his thoughts, feelings, fears, etc. All in all, he is really on the right path for lifelong recovery. Recently a man in his late 40’s moved into the house. We will call him “James.” Shortly after James moved into the house, another resident was checking the Maryland sex offender registry, out of curiosity, to see how many sex offenders were living close by. He then made the shocking discovery that James was registered. He wasn’t extremely troubled until he read the details. James is registered as a “Sexually Violent Offender” and his charge is listed as Rape: 2nd Degree. My relative and I looked up James on the Maryland Judiciary Case Search for more detail on his charges. This is what we found:    Read more...