Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett plans to introduce a proposed ordinance Tuesday that would create “child safety zones” in the city to protect children against sex offenders.
“Study shows specifically child molesters are more likely than any other type of offender to be arrested for a sex crime against a child following release from prison,” according to a memo Barnett will present to the City Council at its next meeting. The memo also states one out of every 830 Kyle residents is a registered sex offender, the largest such ratio for any city surveyed except Seguin and New Braunfels. Sixty of the 68 sex offenders living here, according to Barnett, can be classified as a child sex offender.
Under the terms of Barnett’s proposal “It shall be unlawful for a child sex offender to establish a permanent residence, establish a temporary residence or to be a recurring visitor at a residence, located within 1,500 feet of any premises where children commonly gather.” It would also declare it to be “unlawful to let or rent any place, structure or part thereof, manufactured home, trailer, or other conveyance, with the knowledge that it will be used as a permanent residence, temporary residence by any person” known to be a child sex offender if that residence is located “within 1,500 feet of any premises where children commonly gather.”
It also states that on Halloween “A child sex offender shall not … leave an exterior porch light on or otherwise invite trick-or-treaters to the premises.”
Barnett said his staff researched similar ordinances in other Central Texas cities and that his proposed ordinance was largely copied from one in effect in Cedar Park with language also added from a Pflugerville law.
The chief wants the City Council to go on the record in saying “repeat sexual offenders, sexual offenders who use physical violence and sexual offenders who prey on children are sexual predators who present an extreme threat to the health, safety and welfare of children. Sexual offenders are extremely likely to use physical violence and to repeat their offense and most sexual offenders commit many offenses, have many more victims than are ever reported, and are prosecuted for only a fraction of their crimes. This makes the cost of sexual offender victimization to society at large, while incalculable, clearly exorbitant.”
He also maintained his proposed ordinance serves “the city's compelling interest to promote, protect and improve the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the city by creating areas around locations where children regularly congregate in concentrated numbers wherein certain sexual offenders and sexual predators are prohibited from establishing temporary or permanent residences.”
Barnett said his department’s research shows that out of the 12 Central Texas cities surveyed, Kyle is one of four that doesn’t currently have any form of a ordinance designed to protect children from registered sex offenders. The other three are Seguin, New Braunfels and San Marcos. In addition to the aforementioned Pflugerville and Cedar Park, where Barnett lifted language for his proposal, the other cities the Police Department surveyed with ordinances are Leander, West Lake Hills, Cibolo, League City, Giddings and Fate.
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