Charlotte Shelter Closes Doors To Registered Sex Offenders

The Men’s Shelter of Charlotte has stopped accepting residents who are registered sex offenders and trying to find homes for the dozen or so that currently call the shelter home. Life becomes just a little bit more difficult for those in the Charlotte area who must register as sex offenders until they are able to legally seek removal of the registry requirement.

Already, North Carolina law recognizes that sex offender registry requirements may limit an individuals’ ability to find a place to live. Convicted sex offenders must register their home address with the state registry system, but if they do not have a home, they must register their spot under a bridge or the street corner that they call home each night.

According to the Court of Appeals of North Carolina, this means that every registered sex offender has a “home” for the purpose of fulfilling his or her registration requirements.

A person on the registry cannot live within 1,000 feet of a school or daycare center. Additional restrictions may be placed on an offender as a condition of his or her parole.

The shelter says that it’s closing its doors to registered sex offenders in an effort to open the eyes of the community to homelessness among this group of people. The problem is created in part by the restrictions on where a registered sex offender may live and also by the problem that any felony conviction can create in trying to secure a job.

Source: Gaston Gazette, “Charlotte shelter no longer welcoming sex offenders,” March 2, 2013