I read with total understanding the July 28 article, “Sex offender group home upsets Marysville residents,” regarding Rev. John Mack and his sex-offender houses scattered about our communities. We were shocked in our west Arlington neighborhood to hear about our Mack house about four blocks away. We tried to be proactive by educating ourselves at the Snohomish County Sheriff’s website. We discovered that we had to register with the sheriff’s office to see the website! We had to register to see the history and level of each sex offender in our neighborhood and to get warnings for the “newcomers” to the area. Are you kidding me?
We did register and found that many of the offenders are level III and have refused treatment while incarcerated! The information tells of the offenders’ history of offenses, time in jail, and sometimes the remarks of the offender, such as one level III: “I fantasize about raping a woman on some kind of trail, but I don’t feel like acting on it now.” Well, this guy is practically next to the Arlington airport trail! We truly appreciate that!
I can guarantee we will be discussing this with the Arlington City Council. I do recognize that time done is time done. Some child rapists and sex offenders have worked on their rehabilitation and deserve the setting Rev. Mack provides. Level III’s refusing rehab do not belong in our neighborhoods!
Perhaps the cities, Rev. Mack, and sheriff’s office should be financially and legally held accountable for anyone hurt or attacked by these men. If you put them in our neighborhoods and do not warn us of the risk and danger, you should be responsible for any damage done! We feel until the zoning can be addressed, alerts should be posted in the local papers (as in the past) for every sex offender being placed in the Mack houses.
Kay Heller
Arlington
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