RANGELY | The Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office will be hosting a community notification meeting in Rangely on July 2, 2019 at 6 p.m. at 402 W. Main Street; the Rangely School District Administration Building in the BOCES gym. Pursuant to Colorado Revised Statutes 16-13-901 through 16-13-905, the meeting is being held to provide information to Rangely area residents’ of a Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) who recently relocated to the area. The individual subject of the notification has been convicted of a sex offense that requires law enforcement registration. Further, he or she has been determined to present a high potential to re-offend and is therefore subject to community notification regarding his residence in this community.
The topic of sex offending will also be presented by a team of professionals involved in the management of offenders in the community. Due to the mature content of the information that will be presented, it is not advisable to bring children to the meeting. However, it is strongly encouraged that information presented at the meeting, deemed to be appropriate, be subsequently reviewed with children afterwards. Children under 16, unaccompanied by an adult, will not be permitted to attend the meeting.
The Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office has no legal authority to direct where a sex offender may live. Unless court restrictions exist, they are constitutionally free to live wherever they choose. Sex offenders have always lived in our communities, but they were not always required to notify law enforcement of their residence until registration laws were implemented pursuant to the Jacob Wetterling Act in 1994. Law enforcement may now share that information with members of the community, and in the case of Sexually Violent Predators, law enforcement must actively notify citizens.
The purpose of this notification meeting is to enhance public safety, education and protection. Vigilantism or use of this information to harass, threaten, or intimidate the offender, the offender’s significant others or the community notification team is criminal behavior and will not be tolerated.
For questions regarding this meeting please contact the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office at 970-878-9600.
Special to the Herald Times
