A sex offender who has been living at the Calvary Lutheran homeless shelter in Loyal Heights has been removed, SHARE confirmed to My Ballard today.
This weekend a My Ballard reader posted a notice in the forum claiming that a Level III sex offender was living at the church for a few weeks. We spoke with Alan at SHARE this morning, and he confirmed a sex offender moved into the shelter on August 21st. Alan said they discovered the man’s background on Saturday, and SHARE members removed him on Saturday night.
Neighborhood members of the task force set up to monitor the shelter reacted in an email this morning. “We have communicated to [Our Redeemer’s Pastor] Steve Grumm our extreme disappointment, concern, and frankly, anger that this situation was allowed to occur,” they wrote. “We have demanded that rigorous screening for sex offenses be immediately implemented for each prospective shelter resident before he is allowed to use the shelter.”
Despite the neighborhood’s repeated requests, SHARE refused to conduct sex offender checks, even calling them “un-American.” Alan says that the discovery of this sex offender does not change their stance. “We’ve never had a problem,” he said. “It doesn’t change anything.” We spoke with one neighbor who lives near the church. “This is what we were concerned about,” he tells us. “They are no longer welcome in my neighborhood.”
The neighborhood task force said it will be meeting with Pastor Grumm soon to discuss how the screening will be implemented. We have contacted Pastor Grumm for a comment, and will post it as soon as we hear back.
(Thanks Shanedillon for your forum post!)