New Bylaw Restricts Sex Offenders

Mansfield Chief of Police Ronald Sellon announced on his Twitter account that the Sex Offender Residency Restriction Bylaw is officially a law in Mansfield.

This bylaw restricts where convicted sex offenders, classified as level two or three, are able to live or travel within the town of Mansfield. These level two and three sex offenders pose a moderate to high risk of re-offense.

Mansfield seeks to protect members of the community from sex offenders, especially those who are at high risk: children, the elderly and the disabled.

With this new bylaw, convicted sex offenders are prohibited from entering the premises of any park, recreational facility, school, day-care center, elderly housing facility, over 55 community, or senior citizens center. Prohibited areas also include school and camp bus stops.

Prohibited recreational facilities include private and publicly owned playgrounds, forest preserves, conservation areas, jogging trails or tracks, hiking or biking trails, beaches, water parks, swimming pools, wading pools, soccer fields, baseball fields, football fields, basketball courts, or hockey rinks.

Sex offenders must live at least 1,000 feet from any of these restricted areas. Exceptions are given for sex offenders who are registered and already have permanent residence within 1,000 feet of any restricted area before the bylaw was implemented.

These areas were created by the town and will be enforced by the Mansfield Police Department. The list, the maps and a copy of this bylaw will be publicly available at the Mansfield Police Department, the Mansfield Town Clerk’s office and on the Town of Mansfield website. The list will be revised annually

For more information, see Town of Mansfield Warrant for the Annual Town Meeting, Article 33.

Photo Credit: Mansfield Police Department twitter, @MansfieldPolice