After prison, few places for sex offenders to live

After two years of fitful searching, Christopher Noles and his family finally found a modest three-bedroom house in rural Georgia. The bedrooms are cramped, the kitchen plumbing leaky. There isn't a neighbor in sight. But the lonely old house is a last refuge. Mr. Noles is one of nearly 16,000 sex offenders convicted in Georgia who, under state law, can't live or work within 1,000 feet of a church, school, day-care center, skating rink, park, swimming pool or any other place where children gather. Failing to register an address could mean 30 extra years in prison for a convicted sex offender.

The crime that placed Mr. Noles, now 31 years old, in Georgia's database of sex offenders was having sex in August 1996 with his girlfriend. He was then 17, while she was 14. Both said the sex was consensual, and they later wed.

source: Article 'After Prison, Few Places for Sex Offenders to Live' by Stephanie Chen; online.wsj.com/article_email/SB123500941182818821-lMyQjAxMDI5MzE1OTAxMDk5Wj.html#project%3DSLIDESHOW08%26s%3DSB123490497144302851%257Csection%253DUS%26articleTabs%3Darticle; The Wall Street Journal; 19 February 2009