The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled a sex offender from Marshalltown does not have the right to live within 2,000 feet of a school, even though he had been living in that zone for several years at a previous address. In 1999, John Thomas Finders was convicted of sexually abusing a minor he was counseling.
In 2002, he did, as required by law, register with authorities and notify them of his address in Marshalltown. In 2005, Finders moved to another home in Marshalltown and, again, told his local sheriff where he was living. But authorities say that new home is within 2,000 feet of a school or daycare and, as a sex offender, that’s a zone where Finders cannot live.
Finders argues that since his original crime against a minor occured before the residency restrictions were established, he shouldn’t be subjected to the limits on where he may live. But the Iowa Supreme Court has ruled it was the "obvious intention" of lawmakers to prevent convicted sex offenders from living within two-thousand feet of a daycare or school.
It means Finders is guilty as charged, as the court says it is not "unfair" to require Finders to find a home outside that two-thousand feet zone if he intends to move.