Sex offender too close to school, South Side resident contends

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

YOUNGSTOWN — A longtime resident of one South Side neighborhood is concerned that a convicted sex offender is moving into the neighborhood not far from a school, but police say he has every right to move in.

James Vaughn, of Hudson Avenue, said he was shocked when he received a letter from the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department last week informing him that a Tier III sex offender was moving to his neighborhood. Vaughn lives near a large church and the former Sheridan School, which is still being used as a school.

According to the letter, Jesse Lamont Cooper would be living in the 400 block of West Ravenwood. Detective Charles Emery, of the sheriff’s department, said Cooper had been convicted of attempted rape and attempted kidnapping in 2000.

Vaughn, after receiving the letter, wrote a few letters of his own to various news organizations, the sheriff’s department and neighbors.

“My concern is that he is near a school and is a predator. We just had a 15-year-old girl dragged to a house and assaulted [in Campbell]. What’s to say that same thing won’t happen here,” said Vaughn.

Emery said there is a rule that forbids registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school, but that law does not apply to Cooper.

According to Emery, the law forbidding registered offenders from living near a school was put into effect in July 2003. He said the law does not apply to anyone convicted before the July 2003 enactment date.

Cooper, having been convicted in 2000, does not fall under the umbrella of the rule.

The technicalities involved in the legislation offer no solace to Vaughn. He said the area does have two organized block-watch groups, and he is hopeful that community organization can be effective in keeping an eye on the area overall.

Cooper is one of the few registered sex offenders for whom the sheriff’s department is required to notify residents concerning his residency.

According to Emery, the state in 2008 reclassified the designations for sex offenders from the former sexually oriented, habitual- offender and sexual-predator classifications to the current Tier 1 through Tier III system, leading to appeals by some convicted under the former designations.

The appeals have led to stay orders from the courts putting a stop to notification of the public on anyone not formerly considered a sexual predator, the most drastic classification. The sheriff’s department issued notification about Cooper because he was considered a sexual predator upon his conviction.

jgoodwin@vindy.com