Herald staff
State Rep. Ida Ballasiotes is outraged that the state Department of Corrections has been secretly housing transient Level 3 sex offenders at hotels and motels across the state — including three in Snohomish County.
Level 3 sex offenders are deemed the most likely to reoffend.
Ballasiotes, the ranking Republican and former chairwoman of the House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee, called the decision "inexcusable" and said she plans to review the state’s sex offender notification laws.
She wants to determine whether changes are needed that would require broader notification of where transient sex offenders and those newly released from prison are living.
Motels and hotels documented to have housed registered sex offenders include the Motel 6 in south Everett and Lynnwood, and the Topper Hotel in Everett.
Also, five hotels or motels in Seattle, one in Tukwila and two in Tacoma are on the list. In addition, 20 others across the state have reportedly housed high-level sex offenders.
Ballasiotes learned about the housing from a Seattle television reporter. She immediately contacted Department of Corrections Secretary Joseph Lehman.
"We had a long talk, and he confirmed to me that they are putting Level 3 sex offenders in motels and that they have been doing it for well over a year. The department’s reaction was to wring their hands and ask, ‘What else can we do?’" said Ballasiotes, R-Mercer Island.
"It’s absolutely inexcusable that they would put high-risk sex offenders in motel rooms next to unsuspecting families and their children."
At least 38 high-level sex offenders have been confirmed as staying in dozens of hotels and motels in the central Puget Sound region in the past four months. Ballasiotes discovered that the department used a state credit card to pay the room fees and told motel managers that those who would be checking in had been convicted of sex crimes.
However, other guests were never notified, and sex offenders were allowed to come and go at will without department supervision.
"We know of one case where a family with young children checked in to a north Seattle motel room and were never told that sex offenders were living in rooms on both sides of them. It’s absolutely incomprehensible that DOC so blatantly put the public at risk," Ballasiotes said.
"What upsets me is that they never said anything about this to anyone for over a year. None of us on the House Corrections Committee were aware of it. Their whole notion was, ‘Let’s just keep it quiet.’ "
Even more unbelievable, Ballasiotes said, is the Corrections Department’s "cavalier attitude" about it.
"Joe Lehman told me since they don’t have a solution about where to put transient sex offenders released from prison, they’re going to continue to put them in motels. Words cannot describe how outrageous that is," Ballasiotes said. "They’re putting people’s lives at risk, and they don’t care."
Ballasiotes said the department told her the only other alternative was to provide "a tent and a tarp" to released transient sex offenders.
"In a motel, DOC feels it has some control over these sex offenders as they transition back into society. I think they could find a better place to house these offenders, such as using some beds in their work-release facilities," Ballasiotes said.
"DOC says it’s a community problem. I think it’s a DOC problem. No one made DOC responsible for paying to house released sex offenders who have served their time. However, it’s absolutely ludicrous for the state to pay to house sex offenders in public hotels where they could easily reoffend."
The decision to put high-level sex offenders in motels and hotels could expose the state to expensive lawsuits if someone were victimized, Ballasiotes said.
"We don’t know yet if there are any victims. We just learned of this last week. However, if this practice continues, it’s not a matter of if someone becomes a victim, but when," she said.
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