'Hyde Park Rapist' finds place to live

His release has been delayed because placements have fallen through.

By COLLEEN JENKINS, Times Staff Writer
Published January 18, 2008

ADVERTISEMENT [Times (2002)] Bobby Joe Helms says he chose to live in Melbourne in part to be far from his victims.

TAMPA - It took three months and seven tries for the man known as the "Hyde Park rapist" to find a place to live.

On Thursday, a judge cut Bobby Joe Helms free once again after hearing that probation officials will allow him to move from the Florida Civil Commitment Center in Arcadia to an apartment in Melbourne.

Helms' release was approved in October after two doctors said he no longer posed a threat to the community. He spent only hours out of custody, forced to return after a housing arrangement fell through.

A St. Petersburg mobile home park with other sex offenders and felons initially had agreed to house Helms but backed out after management learned the extent of his criminal record.

Helms, 50, was convicted twice of sexual battery but confessed in the 1980s to committing 18 attacks in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. He has been incarcerated almost continuously since 1986, first in prison, then at the center where sex offenders are civilly committed after finishing their criminal sentences.

He was released in 2002 but returned to Arcadia within a year after failing three polygraph tests.

Helms' attorney, Jeanine Cohen, said six placements had fallen through since October.

Often, the cities where Helms was attempting to move had ordinances banning sex offenders, she said.

Helms said he worked hard in treatment and has no intention of committing new crimes.

He choose Melbourne to be near his siblings and away from his Tampa Bay area victims. He doesn't want those women to live in fear, he said.

"It will put some distance between me and the people that I hurt," he said.

His release will be closely monitored. He must abide by a curfew, take polygraph tests and continue outpatient sex offender treatment, which is available in Melbourne, Cohen said.

Colleen Jenkins can be reached at cjenkins@sptimes.com or 813 226-3337.

[Last modified January 17, 2008, 22:36:32]