‘An uproar’: Fresno residents learn registered sex offenders live near school, church

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KGPE) – Residents of a Fresno neighborhood known for a holiday tradition were shocked to learn how registered sex offenders could live in their neighborhood close to an elementary school and a church.

Just two blocks away from Fresno’s Christmas Tree Lane near Gettysburg and Palm avenues, in the Old Fig Garden neighborhood, are two homes where multiple registered sex offenders live.

One of those homes was the scene of a shooting on a Saturday night in August. Investigators say a woman broke into the home and opened fire, injuring one of the registered sex offenders who lives there. Investigators say the woman charged in the shooting was targeting a man whom she claims abused her family member.

That’s the first time many neighbors became aware that there were registered sex offenders living nearby, which led to a discussion on the social media platform, Nextdoor.

“There’s quite an uproar on Nextdoor, there’s an uproar in the neighborhood, people in the neighborhood are talking about it, they’re very concerned, and so here we are,” said neighbor Beverly Raine, who lives a block away.

The two homes are run by the Centers for Living, owned and operated by John Coyle, an organization that claims to provide a “safe, sober, and empowering housing environment for people who are displaced.” However, neighbors like Raine say the homes have made the area unsafe.

“There have been problems from day one, and it is now years. There’s been incident after incident after incident. And no one told us that we have registered sex offenders there. And not just one,” she said.

Raine says they were under the impression the homes were sober living facilities treating alcohol and drug addiction. However, a recent check of the Megan’s Law website shows multiple registered sex offenders live at the two homes on Gettysburg Avenue. Their crimes range from lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 to continuous sexual abuse of a child.

“When you tell me sexual predators are living there, it’s really concerning because it’s across from a church and next to a primary school, and so you have young children,” Raine expressed.

Just across the street is “The Well” church, which advertises youth groups for middle and high school students. The nearby school is Wawona K through Eighth. So, how can registered sex offenders live so close?

Jessica’s Law, passed by California voters in 2006, restricted where sex offenders could live, but in 2015, that changed after the state’s supreme court ruled the housing requirements were too restrictive. Now, sex offenders can legally live in neighborhoods like Raine’s.

The Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni says his deputies are called to these two homes more often than any other homes in the neighborhood.

“When you look at my numbers right here at 41 calls year to date and over 50 calls last year, your average residential house doesn’t have nearly that many calls,” Zanoni said.

One of those calls this year was to arrest 34-year-old Bradford Morrison in March, on charges of possessing child sex abuse material.

“There’s not a lot we can do when these homes come in and offer this particular type of service because the law is in their favor,” Zanoni said.

Sheriff Zanoni says the two homes are considered ‘transitional housing,’ like a halfway house for those out of prison or in recovery, different than a facility offering medical treatment for addiction.

“If their drug and alcohol abuse treatment is 24/7, then they have to get a certain licensing for it. If it’s not, they don’t need that licensing and all they have to do is comply with local ordinance and zoning laws,” he said.

Owners of the homes, Centers for Living, provided a statement that read in part:

Centers for Living is not a “sex offender home.” We are a faith-based transitional living ministry that serves men and women emerging from homelessness, incarceration, addiction, and hardship of every kind. We love all and serve all, without discrimination, and we ask only for fairness and accuracy in how our work is portrayed
John E. Coyle, CEO / Founder, Centers for Living, Inc.

Sheriff Zanoni says the best thing concerned residents can do is remain vigilant.

“Pay attention, call us, do your best to be vigilant, and we’ll do our best to come out and handle these situations, and it can’t be every day that we’re serving a search warrant,” he explained. “But it’s good if you call because I think it keeps individuals, what I call, on their toes and keeps them paying attention and lets them know, ‘Hey, the neighbors aren’t just going to let you do whatever you want to do around here.'”

In the meantime, neighbors have changed the way they live.

“We locked all of our gates, we put an electric gate in, we’ve got eight cameras that we now have monitoring all the time, and we went from labradors to german shepherds and queensland heelers,” Raines said.

Fresno County leaders are looking at the issues surrounding the two homes to see what remedies are available to improve safety for the entire neighborhood.