Arrested for Going to Church, Jesse James Deconto, Charlotte Observer, August 22, 2009

Arrested for Going to Church

By Jesse James Deconto
Charlotte Observer
August 22, 2009

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/902228.html

Registered sex offender James Nichols, wearing an electronic tracking device on his right ankle, pulls a wagon full of the day's food and other supplies for himself and his fiancee through downtown Sanford.

Sex offender charged after attending church with child care facility. Law being challenged.

James Nichols said he was flabbergasted when a Chatham County sheriff's deputy arrested him in March for a simple weekly activity: going to church.

Nichols, 31, had served six years in prison for indecent liberties with a teenage girl and attempted second-degree rape. He was released last September and started attending Moncure Baptist Church. He met with the pastor, disclosed his crimes and often sat in the front row for worship.

But after the Chatham sheriff's office investigated an alleged sexual assault by another person in the church parking lot in March, Nichols was arrested because he was attending the church, which has a child care facility on its premises.

“Anyone in this world has a right to practice their religion, and whether they've made any mistake in their life, they should have the right,” Nichols said.

But a state law that took effect in December forbids registered sex offenders from being within 300 feet of a school, playground, day care or children's museum.

“The law we passed doesn't let them go to church, because there are nurseries in churches,” said state Rep. Verla Insko, D-Chapel Hill, the only legislator in the House and Senate to oppose the law.

Nichols, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, is challenging the law in Chatham County. A coalition of social workers and psychologists who treat sex abusers have been fighting it in the legislature. Some think churches should play a role in rehabilitating offenders.

Proponents, though, want to keep sexual offenders away from children at all costs, even after they've finished their prison time.

“As far as I'm concerned, they've lost all their rights — to go to church ... to go to McDonald's to get a cheeseburger if they've got the slides,” said state Sen. David Hoyle, the Gastonia Democrat who sponsored the law. “They have made that choice. They have imposed that on themselves. I didn't.”

Nichols' lawyer, Glenn Gerding, calls the law unconstitutional because it infringes on his client's freedom to exercise religion. He said the law applies even if an offender is merely sitting on a pew and no children are in the building.

Katy Parker, N.C. legal counsel for the ACLU, said her agency has taken about 50 phone calls from pastors and registered sex offenders since the law took effect. She said law enforcement officials have told pastors they can't allow sex offenders to attend church. She also has heard of offenders being arrested for exercising at a YMCA.

Nichols appears to be one of the few offenders arrested for being on church grounds, though there clearly are other offenders attending worship. Eric Sipe, a sex-abuse therapist in Catawba County, said sheriff's departments vary in how they enforce the law.

Nichols recently moved to Sanford, where he started attending Try Jesus Ministries. The church has children's programs, but Nichols said law officers are more understanding. Last weekend, he went with fellow church members on a retreat to Tennessee.

“I go to church anytime I get a chance,” said Nichols. “I believe in it. It helps me keep my mind on track. It helps me be a better person not just to myself but to someone else.”

Hoyle, the law sponsor, said he doesn't have a problem if pedophiles go to church, as long as there aren't children there.

“It's a recipe for them to find victims,” he said. “Find another church that they don't have a nursery. I'm sure there are a lot of churches that don't have nurseries.”

Gerding, Nichols' lawyer, argues that churches are precisely where offenders need to be. “Churches are often the last hope for many sex offenders who need the stability and guidance a church pastor and church family can provide,” Gerding wrote in his motion.

Opponents say the law fails to distinguish among child predators, violent offenders and remorseful adults who committed rape as much younger men or teenagers.

Rep. Rick Glazier, a Fayetteville Democrat, has been leading a legislative work group on proposed changes to the law. He said banning offenders from church was an unintended consequence of the law.

Bishop Larry Goodpaster, of the United Methodist's Western Conference in Charlotte, said strict rules and training for children's volunteers can allow sex offenders to attend church while also protecting the congregation.

Nichols, the Chatham defendant, said he strayed from God in his teens and early 20s.

Now he says he lives on disability for a back injury and mental illness and takes odd jobs. He's due in court Monday.

Nichols and his fiancee are expecting their first baby, but he could go back to prison for a few more years if convicted.

“You've got troublemakers,” he said, “and you do have some of the people that really want to get their act together and have a good life.”

Contact: jesse.deconto@newsobserver.com