Schools worried over
sex-offender office

The parole program will move
next month close to 3 schools

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By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com

The relocation of a sex-offender parole program to downtown Honolulu has area school officials worried.

"I don't think it's really wise to put a sex-offender office in close proximity to a school with 500 girls," said Caroline Oda, head of school at St. Andrew's Priory School for Girls, located at nearby Queen Emma Square. "Sex offenders have a high rate of recidivism and, generally speaking, seek out girls or little children."

The state Hawaii Paroling Authority will move the sex-offender and mental-health parole program from Waiakamilo Road to its 1177 Alakea St. offices Dec. 10, said Tommy Johnson, paroling authority administrator. The agency already moved the intensive supervision program Nov. 13.

Parole officers hold office interviews with parolees between once a week and once every three months, depending on their level of supervision, Johnson said. Of the 340 parolees, 94 are sex offenders, he said.

Of great concern to Oda is that many priory students catch the bus in front of the Alakea Street office.

She said Johnson called her for the first time yesterday after City Councilman Jon Yoshimura informed him of a news conference he was holding. Johnson sent a letter Oct. 31 to area schools after she called him.

Yoshimura said the state does not have to notify anyone about the relocation.

Oda said, "It seems like the state is only looking at the dollars and not the human component."

However, Johnson said money is not the big issue, though the shutdown of the Waiakamilo site will save $48,000 a year in rent, utilities and maintenance.

"It allows us to create a more secure environment, and, at the same time, it improves public safety," Johnson said.

The new site is located near three schools: St. Andrew's Priory, Central Middle and Royal Elementary schools, with about 1,500 students in a three-block area, and Hawaii Pacific University, which has 9,000 students.

Johnson said 5,000 students attend eight schools near the Waiakamilo site. He said the old facility lacks secure entrances and alarms, making it more difficult to secure a parolee for arrest. Johnson said the sex-offender program has a high rate of success, with only one repeat offense four years ago involving an adult victim not near a paroling facility.

But one repeat offense is one too many for Helen Varner, HPU dean of communication.

Adding 300 parolees to the downtown area could discourage parents from sending their children to HPU, she said.