General

MINUTES SEX OFFENDER RESIDENCE BOARD Wednesday, November 8, 2017 City Hall, Room 310 2:30 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Dean Gerondale (Chairman), Kathy De Cremer, Heidi Michel MEMBERS EXCUSTED: Renee Keehan, Ben Heiman ALSO PRESENT: Officer James Runge The meeting was called to order by Dean Gerondale. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of the October 11, 2017 Minutes of the Sex Offender Residency Board meeting Motion made by K. De Cremer to approve the October 11, 2017 Minutes, seconded by H. Michel. All in favor. Motion carried. 2. APPEALS (a) Appeal of Andrew Miller requesting to move to 541 Clement Street Andrew appeared in person. D. Gerondale advised Andrew of his right to discuss treatment issues in closed session and informed him not to use the names of the victims. In 2014, Andrew was convicted of possession of child pornography. He served three years in prison. The victim was twelve years old. Andrew viewed pornography via the Internet. He stated he was at a very bad place in his life. He never left the house. He was severely depressed and mentally ill. He weighed 470 pounds. His life was very painful and depressing. Andrew stated this is not an excuse for his crime. He was also using drugs and binge eating. He basically lived on the Internet and was addicted to pornography. The police came to his house and arrested him. Officer Runge verified this information and stated there were numerous images and videos on his computer. Andrew pleaded guilty to the charges. He was released from prison April 11, 2017. The DOC gave him a voucher to stay at a motel for one week and since then, he has been staying with different relatives. 1 Andrew is employed full time at Hardee’s as the third shift manager. Andrew completed SOT2 at Oshkosh Correctional. He is in week 16 of aftercare, which meets once per week. Andrew feels he is mentally in a much better place. He’s lost 100 pounds and is able to do more physically. His manager and co-workers give him a lot of positive feedback. He went to the Wisconsin Resource Center and received help for depression. He takes medication regularly. He’s identified the risk factors which led to his crime and the impact it had on his victims. He still received mental health treatment. Andrew is a full time student at NWTC (first year accounting). He also works full time. He enjoys going to his parents’ house. He currently stays with his brother and mother part time. He occasionally sees his uncles and cousins. He currently has no contact with his brother’s children per his brother’s wife’s request. Andrew’s boss is very supportive. Andrew, his mother, father and brother had a long conversation with the landlord and he agreed to rent to him. A motion to APPROVE the appeal of Andrew Miller, address specific, was made by K. De Cremer, seconded by H. Michel. All in favor. Motion carried. (b) Appeal of Brintell Bishop requesting to move to 521 Twelfth Avenue Brintell appeared in person. D. Gerondale advised Brintell of his right to discuss treatment issues in closed session and informed him not to use the names of the victims. In 2012, Brintell was convicted of second degree sexual assault of a fourteen year old. He was 18. Brintell is currently staying at 1857 Western Avenue. He has been staying with different relatives. He was released from prison March 7, 2017. Upon release, he stayed at the TLP for 90 days. Brintell knew the victim for about one year. They became close and had sexual intercourse. He later learned she was younger than she had told him. Police officers came to his school and arrested him. Brintell does not know why the victim reported it to the police. The victim and her family told Brintell she was 18. Officer Runge stated the victim told a friend she was assaulted and that it was not consensual. She had been pressured by Brintell for quite some time to have sex. Brintell told the investigator he thought she was 16 or 17. Brintell pled no contest to the charges. He served three years in prison. He did not attend SOT because his time was too short. He is currently enrolled in treatment at ATTIC Correctional Services. He’s attended one session. 2 Brintell is employed at A&W. He is currently on an ankle bracelet but it will be removed if he finds a place to live. Brintell explained he didn’t come before the board until now is because he was working two jobs and going to school full time at NWTC. Brintell’s family lives in the area. H. Michel asked why, if he was 18 and he thought the victim was 18, he didn’t question why she wasn’t in school. Brintell stated she was never in school – she never attended any school the whole time Brintell was here since 2011. H. Michel asked why he waited until October to have an assessment when he was released in March. Brintell stated he was working a third shift job and was asleep when he needed to have the assessment done. He only had Sundays off and that’s when he attended school. Brintell would be living with his fiancé at this location. She currently lives there. Brintell will be able to attend his treatment sessions because he now only has one job. He believes he has 16 sessions to complete. Brintell feels he’s turned his life around. H. Michel asked Brintell why he got revoked from his probation in January 2014. Brintell stated he went to the store with his underaged cousin. Brintell has no substance abuse issues. He does not drink or smoke. D. Gerondale has issues with fact the victim stated it was not consensual and Brintell has had only one treatment session. Also, Brintell has no employment documentation. D. Gerondale also has difficulty understanding the victim’s mother stating her daughter was 18. A motion to DENY the appeal of Brintell Bishop was made by D. Gerondale, seconded by K. De Cremer. All in favor. Motion carried. (c) Appeal of Gary D. Nejedlo requesting to move to 421 Cherry Street Gary failed to appear. A motion to DENY the appeal of Gary Nejedlo was made by H. Michel, seconded by K. De Cremer. All in favor. Motion carried. (d) Appeal of Robert Hass requesting to move to 421 Cherry Street Robert appeared in person. D. Gerondale advised Robert of his right to discuss treatment issues in closed session and informed him not to use the names of the victims. 3 Robert appeared before the board in August and was approved for a period of 90 days at this location. Robert stated he will complete “Thinking for Change” tomorrow. He provided a letter from ATTIC Correctional Services stating he begins SOT2 next week. He enrolled at NWTC and begins classes in January. He works full time at American Foods. D. Gerondale asked H. Michel what her concerns were with regard to Robert’s appeal last time, as she opposed the motion to approve. H. Michel said Robert was convicted once of a sexual offense and then he still continued to have contact with minors while he was on probation. D. Gerondale asked Robert what he’s learned in Thinking for Change. Robert now thinks before he reacts because he has anger issues. Robert is in contact with his biological mother once a week. He currently attends Narcotics Anonymous which is also a good support group. Robert is not on any medication. He is on probation for four years. A motion to APPROVE the appeal of Robert Hass, address specific, for a period of 90 days, was made by D. Gerondale, seconded by K. De Cremer. All in favor. Motion carried. When Robert comes back in 90 days, D. Gerondale would like to see his Thinking for Change certificate of completion, a current pay stub and SOT documentation. (e) Appeal of Russel Knaus requesting to move to 1182 Day Street, Apt. A Russel appeared in person. D. Gerondale advised Russel of his right to discuss treatment issues in closed session and informed him not to use the names of the victims. Russel appeared before the board last month and his appeal was denied. Prior to that, he had been approved for 90 days at this location. D. Gerondale asked Russel what has changed over the last 30 days. Russel stated that now that his boot cast has been removed, he will be volunteering for the Veterans. He is taking the medication to curb his alcohol addiction and provided a copy of the prescription, along with the bottle of pills. He provided a letter from Brown County Human Services indicating he’s attending AODA treatment (has a completion certificate) and a letter from his landlord. He is still in SOT. Russel’s parole officer provided an email stating she feels Russel should be allowed to stay at this location. 4 Jean Kalcik, 602 Wilson Avenue, is present to speak on Russel’s behalf. She is a member of Assembly of God church. She’s only known Rusty about three weeks and does not know anything about his character. He has been coming up after the service for prayer each time. She is glad for that and would like to see his heart seeking help from the Lord. He can’t make it alone. Rich, a member of Russel’s prior church, is also present to support him. A motion to APPROVE the appeal of Russel Knaus, address specific, was made by K. De Cremer, seconded by H. Michel. Two in favor, one opposed (D. Gerondale). Motion carried. (f) Appeal of Adam Poquette requesting to move to 1227 Wirtz Avenue Adam appeared in person. D. Gerondale advised Adam of his right to discuss treatment issues in closed session and informed him not to use the names of the victims. Adam appeared before the board in February and was approved to live at 1000 Klaus Street. Adam provided a letter from ATTIC Correctional Institute stating he has completed 55 sessions. He has four sessions left. At first he was uncomfortable, as were the others, but Adam felt he needed to be more open and a leader. He wanted to see them help themselves and felt he could help by opening up himself. Adam doesn’t drink or do drugs. He has a stable home and family and a great support team. When he gets down or has negative thoughts, he challenges himself. Adam likes drawing and poetry, hanging out with his family and working. Brad Cherney, 2702 Summerset Circle, Suamico, is present to speak of Adam’s behalf. He feels Brad is a good example of success. Brad owns Dino Stop where Adam is employed. He’s been with his company for over a year and is one of the best hires they’ve had. He’s been promoted to an assistant team leader and is on track to becoming a store manager. A motion to APPROVE the appeal of Adam Poquette, address specific, was made by H. Michel, seconded by K. De Cremer. All in favor. Motion carried. (g) Appeal of Nicholas Meyer requesting to move to 2603 Appian Way Nicholas appeared in person. D. Gerondale advised Nicholas of his right to discuss treatment issues in closed session and informed him not to use the names of the victims. 5 Nicholas appeared before the board in July 2016 and was approved to live at 2601 Appian Way for a period of 60 days. He did not come back in 60 days because he ended up staying at the ATTIC halfway house instead. Nicholas stated he was recently released from prison due to a revocation. He caught a possession of methamphetamine charge back on January 3. He’s currently back staying at the ATTIC (the Marshall House). His time there will expire December 19. He would like to move in with his family. In September, he went back to the ATTIC because after he went through rehab, they wanted him to get his own apartment. He got an apartment in De Pere but ended up losing his job and having a downhill spiral. He stopped going to his meetings and using the coping skills he acquired. As a result, he got revocated for a year. Nicholas has been out since October 17. He is currently employed through Ramstad at Valley Packaging. Nicholas has weekly drug tests at the halfway house. If he leaves and comes back, he takes a breathalyzer. He is not on any medications. Nicholas said he went back to using drugs after he stopped contacting his family. He actually started relapsing even before using drugs. He kept pushing people away, thinking he could do it on his own. His overconfidence was eventually his downfall. Nicholas attends NA meetings once a week. He had an AODA assessment through their provider. Nicholas’ mother, 2601 Appian Way, is present on Nicholas’ behalf. His grandmother (2603 Appian Way) is also present. His mother stated when Nicholas went through Jackie Nitschke, they told them he could not come home. They wanted him to break all ties and live on his own. His mother told them it wasn’t a good idea because he’d become very lonely and seek friendship from other kids his age. That eventually led him to the methamphetamines. His mother and grandmother would like him to come home in order to save money and pay his bills. He would be living next door with his grandmother. After December 19, 2017, Nicholas is off Federal probation. They do not consider him a risk. He will only be on state probation for two more years for drug possession. H. Michel stated she has serious issues with this. Nicholas was in a drug rehab program. Meth is a horrible drug to get involved in. It’s not easy to get off of that drug. Every person in this world has stress and we have to deal with it. Nicholas’ choices were poor choices, but he had a support system for a long time and he didn’t go to them. H. Michel has serious reservations. K. De Cremer also has the same reservations, but she feels he should be given a chance. D. Gerondale agrees with both H. Michel and K. De Cremer. 6 A motion to APPROVE the appeal of Nicholas Meyer, address specific, for a period of 90 days, was made by K. De Cremer, seconded by D. Gerondale. Two in favor, one opposed (H. Michel). Motion carried. D. Gerondale recommended Nicholas come back with job status documentation, documentation on how he’s doing in the drug treatment programs, and people to support him. 3. NEXT MEETING DATE The next meeting date of December 13, 2017 was confirmed. A motion to adjourn was made by K. De Cremer, seconded by H. Michel. All in favor. Motion carried. 7