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Fear mixes with anger at Citrus meeting

At a community meeting in Jessica Lunsford's hometown, participants seek assurances that no other child will be hurt.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published April 10, 2005

HOMOSASSA - Angry, frustrated and fearful, Citrus County residents packed a civic center in the hometown of slain 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford to ask lawmakers, sheriff's officials and community leaders what can be done to keep other children safe.

Since Jessica vanished from her home in late February, many residents in the rural community of Homosassa have worried about the safety of children, particularly from sex offenders such as John Evander Couey. Authorities say Couey, a registered sex offender living near the 9-year-old, confessed to kidnapping, sexually assaulting and killing Jessica.

Her body was later found buried near the mobile home where Couey stayed.

"We've got to let (sex offenders) know that we're not going to put up with this," Jessica's grandmother, Ruth Lunsford, told the crowd.

About 80 people gathered at the center for the meeting and hooted and applauded in support of Lunsford and legislators as they spoke.

Lunsford praised Sheriff Jeff Dawsy and Florida legislators, who are working to craft legislation at both the state and federal level to increase sex offender monitoring.

Couey, who has pleaded not guilty in Jessica's death, moved into a house in sight on Jessica's home without notifying law enforcement, as required. Proposed legislation would require many sex offenders and predators to wear global positioning system tracking devices.

Law enforcement needs to keep a closer watch on sex offenders, and tracking bracelets for offenders in the county could help, said Citrus Lt. Charles Simmons.

"If they don't want to suffer the heat in Citrus County, then move somewhere else," he said.

State Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon, is working to get legislation passed in the state Senate to fix what she called "gaping cracks" in current laws. These cracks, she said, allow Couey and others to manipulate the system.

So far, Argenziano said she has found $5.2-million in the budget for the tracking devices, but she is looking for more money for her other proposals, which include ensuring local probation departments have access to criminal background information and requiring sex predators to check in with local agencies four times a year.

The bill will go before the Senate Criminal Justice Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.

The senator also proposed increased prison time for sexual offenses against children.

"If you're a child molester, your butt's going to prison," she said. She later added, "I don't care about therapies or evaluations."

There is a need for better monitoring of sex offenders on a national scale, U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite told the crowd.

"No one, absolutely no one, should have a fear of a child being abducted by some pond scum," she said. She suggested sex offenders and predators who commit crimes against children be tattooed with circles on their foreheads.

Brown-Waite, who announced her proposed legislation Friday in a news release, is calling for all states to randomly mail address verification cards to offenders and predators. States that fail to do so would risk losing federal grant money.

She warned residents not to make a big distinction between the threat level of offenders and predators. Often, a good lawyer can make the difference between an offender and predator designation, she said.

She offered no time frame for the federal legislation.

"I just hope they realize this isn't something that can wait," she said. "I think we owe more to our children."

As legislators push forward, law enforcement has continued to painstakingly build its case without releasing much new information.

On Friday night, CNN reported that Couey told investigators Jessica was alive when he buried her. The television network attributed the information to law enforcement sources.

"We're not in a position to confirm or deny," Citrus sheriff's spokeswoman Gail Tierney told the Times.

Rumors that Jessica was buried alive have circulated for weeks, but Citrus law enforcement has continued to decline to comment.

The Times asked Tierney after preliminary autopsy results were released March 21 whether Jessica was buried alive. She said only that autopsy reports showed Jessica died from asphyxiation and had been sexually assaulted.

She pointed to the dictionary definition of asphyxiation, which according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary means "to kill or make unconscious by inadequate oxygen, presence of noxious agents, or other obstruction to normal breathing."

Also on the minds of many at the meeting Saturday was prosecutors' decision not to charge three people who lived with Couey in the house at the time of Jessica's slaying.

"If it was up to me, I'd polish my gun and I'd find 'em," Argenziano said. She quickly added that she doesn't want community members to take matters into their own hands and promised to get answers about why prosecutors dropped the charges.

Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 352 860-8312 or vansickle@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 10, 2005, 00:42:24]