Inside Florida’s eerie ‘Paedo Town’ where child sex offenders are sent to live – which expert says is ‘ticking timebomb’

WITH its neatly trimmed lawns and squat bungalows, the Restoration Destination village could be mistaken for a typical Florida retirement community. It is only when you stop to talk with the residents that you realise this is no ordinary place. The Sun’s Scarlet Howes spoke to sexual predators who are welcomed at Florida’s Restoration Destination village Credit: Jeff Rayner/Coleman-Rayner Michael Anrein and Ronald Major, who both claim they are innocent Credit: Jeff Rayner/Coleman-Rayner With almost 2,500 criminals set to be freed early from UK jails next month under Labour plans to tackle prison overcrowding, I visited America’s answer to the ­problem. The village is made up of convicted child sex offenders, many of them recently released from prison and on probation. On the edge of the Florida Everglades, Restoration Destination — ­formerly known as Miracle Village and two miles from nearest town Pahokee — is a modern-day “leper colony” where sexual predators are welcomed. Strolling through the grounds, ­pensioner Robert Newkirk tells me he was given 40 years in jail after being convicted of two counts of attempted sexual battery — the legal term for rape or sexual assault in Florida — of a child under 12. Picking up his post from his assigned letterbox at the front desk, the 79-year-old scoffed that there was only “75 per cent truth” to the crimes of which he was convicted. He said: “They charged me with attempted sexual battery, but it was sexual battery. “There was a child, but they tried to embellish it. There was 75 per cent truth to it. “Am I proud of it? No, I feel remorseful. But 95 per cent of these crimes start at home. “It started at home between my mother and me. And as time went on I got married and I reversed the wheels. “Do I hate what I did? If I could change it I would. Do I feel bad about it? Yeah. “However, I know what caused it. I don’t care what people think.” There are more than 32,000 ­registered sex offenders in Florida, with nearly 900 in Palm Beach County. Pahokee, which is in the county, has 200 of them, nearly all living in the village. It has 198 residents, with a tiny portion of them non-sex offenders, because some family ­members choose to live there too. One of the sex offender village’s 198 residents Credit: Jeff Rayner/Coleman-Rayner Sex offender Robert Newkirk was convicted of two counts of attempted sexual battery of a child under 12 Credit: Jeff Rayner/Coleman-Rayner Robert said angrily: “My kids won’t speak to me, yet I got out in 2003 and my probation officers said they trusted us sex offenders with their kids more than the alcoholics and junkies they get. “Only one per cent of every person, male or female, who commits sex crimes repeats the crime.” But a glance at his offending ­history on public records shows a string of arrests after his release for failing to properly register as a sex offender and violating parole. And studies in Florida on released sex offenders show 5.2 per cent are re-arrested for a new ­sexual crime after five years, rising to 13.7 per cent after ten years. In the UK, sex offenders live in supervised probation hostels, private rented housing and council accommodation, with no ban on living near a school. Florida’s laws mean those convicted of child sex crimes cannot live within 1,000ft of a school, bus stop or any other place where children might gather. In Miami, Orlando and Tampa, the restrictions are extended to 2,500ft, making it virtually impossible for released offenders to find a place to live. Many remain in prison or end up sleeping rough. In other states they are forced to find their own private housing which fits the ­restrictions, and if they can’t they often end up homeless. The village has a church where the sex offenders can repent their sins Credit: Jeff Rayner/Coleman-Rayner Residents pay around £370 a month to live in the village Credit: Jeff Rayner/Coleman-Rayner But there are no such restrictions at Restoration Destination, in aptly named Muck City Road, the largest community of registered sex offenders in the US. It relies heavily on private donations which fund on-site counselling, Bible study and help with providing offenders with jobs. They pay for their accommodation, which is around $500 (£370) a month — primarily financed by the ­government through social security benefits. Brochures for Restoration Destination are given out in jails, where it is promoted during sermons. Team members who run it — who are also convicted sex offenders — see it as a rehabilitation programme. A sign welcoming visitors to the nearest town Pahokee Credit: Jeff Rayner/Coleman-Rayner A road sign warning residents of children playing Credit: Jeff Rayner/Coleman-Rayner Although many residents have to wear ankle monitors and have regular visits from probation officers, some are allowed to work in Pahokee. One who had been caught with child abuse images on his computer serves customers at the nearest petrol station shop. I saw several mums go in with their kids, unknowingly interacting with a convicted paedophile. When I asked him if he was ­comfortable with a job that puts him in front of children, he stuttered: “I don’t want to say anything.” However, New Yorker Michael Anrein was keen to share his tale. He lives in one of the village’s “transition” houses, which means two or three sex offenders who are just out of jail live together to test out their interaction with the community. Michael, 52, who was released in March, said: “It’s a blessing and a curse to live here. “The blessing is this is a place for us to stay and we aren’t homeless. “But I call this the island of misfit toys. We are cut off from everyone in this barren field. “We are outcasts of society, ­basically modern-day lepers.” Like many villagers, Michael must follow a 7pm curfew and wear an ankle monitor with GPS tracking. Though grateful to live in the village, he bristles with anger that he is on the sex offenders’ register for life. He told me: “I’m innocent. Everyone assumes the worst when you’re here. “If my picture flashed on the news you would think, ‘He must have done something bad’. My sister accused me and my mother told her to call the police. But my mum had mental issues based on a traumatic childhood and she was abused. So she assumes the worst straight away.” We were then joined by Michael’s room-mates, who also claimed to be innocent. An elderly man who called himself only Dave said he had been given eight years for possessing child abuse pictures but claimed his computer had been “hacked” and it was a big conspiracy. Room-mate Ronald Major, 66, said: “I didn’t do what they say I did. They said I raped and beat up a juvenile but it’s just hearsay. “I got 24 years in jail but there was no evidence.” The laws of Florida have made Restoration Destination — which was once home to cane-cutters and called Pelican Village — an attractive option. It was set up in 2009 by the late Dick Witherow, a pastor with the Matthew 25 ­Ministries church. He saw the difficulties that sex offenders faced when trying to find a place to live. Although they can travel pretty much anywhere during the day, at night they must be at an address that complies with residency restrictions. Having so many sex offenders close by has unnerved some locals in Pahokee, a desolate place with few shops. One woman who told me she was raped at knifepoint as a teenager said she is still struggling to come to terms with it decades later. And she is unimpressed with the current set-up, especially as the nearest school is only six minutes’ drive away. She said: “I don’t think it’s a miracle at all. Maybe it is for the sex offenders, but for me it’s more like a nightmare on Elm Street.” Another local, retired teacher Ruby Anderson, 63, said: “There’s a lot of bad people in there. They are disgusting. They come out in packs and wear ankle monitors. They know ­people will beat them up so they come out together to do their shopping. “We don’t want them here. But there’s a lot of money behind them from the church.” Florida State Senator Lauren Brook, who runs a sex abuse charity with her father, agrees. She said grouping paedophiles together in one place increases the chances of reoffending. She added: “In so many instances these individuals should never ever be allowed out for a second chance, they’re ticking time bombs. It’s not a question of if they reoffend, it’s a question of when they reoffend.” But Pahokee pastor Patti Aupperlee, who supports the village’s residents, told The Sun: “The place is about second chances. “They’ve done stupid stuff, not ­horrific stuff. These folks are truly sorry and want to make amends so they can have another chance. “They can seek support surrounded by strength in numbers.” And Restoration Destination’s executive director Pat Powers — who spent 12 years in prison for molesting a child under 16 — said: “If you are under house arrest, you’re alone by yourself and guess what you’ve got? This mind — the greatest ‘television’ in the world. “You don’t want them alone. You want them out doing stuff. You want them occupied.” Even so, I found it unnerving to see a road sign warning residents of children playing — ­perhaps a remnant of the past, but there are reports that a few children do live here. Florida’s laws don’t stop paedophiles living in the same neighbourhood as minors, although their terms of probation may ban them from having any contact with them. A search on the state’s database of sex offenders living in the community brings up dozens of men who have molested children. In the UK, nearly 9,000 victims of serious sexual or violent crimes have been warned their attackers are set to be freed early from September. In light of this, perhaps Labour might consider its own paedophile village. For, as one local put it: “At least we know where they are and they are all in one place.”