“Bookville” 3 – Colonies of Homeless Sex Offenders Continue to Grow and Generate Media Attention.

LAKE MONROE, FLORIDA – March 18, 2014

“Bookville” - the name that has become associated with a colony of sex offenders forced to live homeless as a consequence of residency restrictions pushed through by lobbyist Ron Book, which is in its third incarnation, is beginning to get media attention again.

The first “Bookville” developed under the Julia Tuttle Causeway, but when the growing number of inhabitants began to swell from under the overpass and become visible to passing tourists en route to
Miami Beach, the overpass was fenced off and its inhabitants were moved to NE 79th Street and 10^th Avenue; another of the very limited pockets of availability for sex offenders in Miami-Dade County.

A couple of years later, when residents of that community began to get annoyed by the offenders living on the sidewalk who were dumped there by probation, Commissioner Marc Sarnoff installed a spring toy in a small decrepit lot and declared it the “Little River Pocket Park”, effectively banishing the inhabitants from there.

Today, “Bookville 3” has emerged at NW 71^st Street and 36^th Court, along the railroad tracks, where 130 individuals are registered as homeless, living without shelter, fresh water, electricity or sanitation – forced to urinate and defecate in the bushes.

Probation and legislators likely hoped that this more desolate warehouse district would remain under wraps a bit longer, but the Media is catching up. Just this past Thursday, the Miami New Times ran a story on the encampment, Univision 23 Miami (WLTV) was out to film a feature and a news crew from as far as France came to film the intolerable conditions former sex offenders in the United States are subjected to.

Undoubtedly, as it has done before, the County will soon come up with a creative way to displace the sex offenders from Bookville 3 and is probably currently searching for a bridge, field or sidewalk in another community to shuffle them to. However, with very limited pockets of availability remaining in the County where sex offenders can reside; expect Commissioners to face a very big challenge planning the development of Bookville 4.

Florida Action Committee (FAC), founded in 2006, is a state-wide consortium of concerned citizens and professionals whose purpose is to promote the prevention of sexual abuse while preserving the safety and dignity of all citizens through carefully structured laws targeting the truly violent, forced, and/or dangerous predatory acts of sex. FAC believes that many aspects of the current approach to sex offenders seriously undermine justice and actually increase the threat of sexual assault against others, particularly children. FAC opposes a publicized registry of sex offenders and seeks to bring an end to the humiliation of people who have already paid for their crimes. FAC asserts that only by supporting justice for all people—offenders and victims alike can a truly safe society be built and secured for all Americans.