UPDATE: Westlake makes new restrictions on sex offenders official

At a special meeting of the Westlake City Council on Tuesday, July 16, council members voted 3-0 to codify on second reading an amendment to the city’s sex offender and sexual predator ordinance.

Essentially, the change involves extending the distance from 305 metres to 765 metres – the additional length of about six football fields – and extending the ban on people classified as sex offenders or sex criminals near parks, playgrounds, day care centres or “other places where children regularly congregate”, such as bus stops and Westlake Adventure Park.

“This is an important issue for our community and is being pushed forward to ensure the safety of our children,” said Councilwoman Charlotte Leonard.

“The fact that we called a special meeting to vote on this as soon as possible speaks volumes,” said Westlake Mayor JohnPaul O’Connor. “We did what was necessary to protect our children and our loved ones.”

Vice Mayor Greg Langowski and Councilman Julian Martinez were absent from the special meeting. Langowski was also absent from the regular council meeting on July 2, when the ordinance passed on first reading by a vote of 4-0. Council members agreed to call a special meeting for a single agenda item at the earliest date legally possible.

The only change at second reading was that libraries were removed from the list of restricted places, based on court rulings that had lifted such restrictions, O’Connor said.

READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE