MARIETTA, Pa. — A former tough- on-crime Pennsylvania lawmaker has adopted a new and unpopular cause, taking into his home three sex offenders who couldn’t find a place to live — a stand that has angered neighbors.
As cities across the nation tighten laws to keep out people convicted of sex crimes, Tom Armstrong said he is drawing on his religious belief in forgiveness and sheltering the three men until he can open a halfway house for sex offenders.
“I think that our system is trying to treat everybody under a particular brand, and it doesn’t work,” he said.
Nearly 100 Pennsylvania municipalities have ordinances restricting where sex offenders can live. The ordinances generally bar them from moving in next to schools, playgrounds or other places where children might gather.
In early June, Armstrong allowed a rapist and two other sex offenders who had served prison time to move into his home 75 miles west of Philadelphia after another town blocked his plans for the halfway house. Soon, word got out.
Residents of this former mill town of 2,700 on the Susquehanna River packed community meetings, circulated fliers with the men’s mug shots and pressed officials for action.
“I understand how everybody deserves a second chance and all, but I’m not willing to risk my children and my neighbors to find out if they’re rehabilitated or not,” said Elizabeth Fulton, who lives two blocks from Armstrong.
The town’s zoning officer taped a violation notice to the former lawmaker’s door, citing an ordinance that limits the number of unrelated people who can live together. Armstrong is fighting the citation.
The 49-year-old insurance agent said his compassion for people he says are being treated as modern-day lepers stems in part from personal experience: Eleven years ago, he said, his brother was convicted of exposing himself to girls and was jailed.
