By: Robyn Lydick March 24, 2005
The night before a registered sex offender confessed to killing a 10-year-old Florida girl, Highlands Ranch residents wanted to know how a convicted sex offender, also from Florida, was able to move within a mile of five elementary schools, a middle and high school, and three parks.
Michael Christopher Carroll, 36, has a trio of convictions for sexual offenses against children dating back to 1990 and has been classified as a sexually violent predator, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Carroll is now living at 1780 Mountain Maple Drive in Highlands Ranch. About 1,400 people crammed into the ThunderRidge High School gym last Thursday to question county and state officials about Carroll's presence in the community and to learn more about him. Carroll's arrival in Colorado hasn't been an easy one.
One stay in the Mountain Maple Drive home ended in his arrest on Sept. 28, 2004. Two days before, he registered as a sex offender in Colorado and listed his address as Room 102 in the King's Inn at 11800 E. Colfax in Aurora; however, he didn't notify the state of Florida he had moved to Colorado. He was taken back to Florida and served time in the Monroe County jail.
After his release last November, Carroll registered a home address in West Palm Beach, Fla. He returned to Highlands Ranch on March 3.
The house on Mountain Maple Drive is owned by Jerry Andrews, and it's not the first time he's given Carroll a place to live. Carroll also lived for a while above the Scrub Club, an escort service and modeling studio in Key West, Fla. Andrews owns interest in the club.
Exactly how the two met is up for debate. Some reports say the men met in jail, where Andrews was serving out a sentence for a credit card fraud offense. Andrews said after last week's community meeting they met at a role-playing gaming convention. With Carroll's return, Colorado law requires law enforcement notify the community where a sexually violent predator lives. Colorado accepts other states' labels and placed Carroll on the sexually violent predator list for the state. He is one of three in Colorado.
Douglas County held the meeting to give information about Carroll's crimes, his description and photograph, and his job. He is not on parole and has never been convicted in Colorado. The state has no jurisdiction to monitor Carroll. "But we will be watching the house very carefully," said Det. Sgt. Paul Rogers of Douglas County Sheriff's Office.
A former Scrub Club employee, created a Web site (keywestscamclub.com) May 24, 2004, telling the story mostly of Andrews' alleged exploits and management failings, but also of Carroll's move to Colorado.
Andrews said his home has cameras and an alarm system to monitor Carroll's movements. "I don't let him go outside," Andrews said after he and wife, Yuliya, left the meeting to the jeers of residents. "He hasn't been drinking or drugging, and I believe he needs a second chance. I gave him that chance."
Residents questioned if the county could do anything about the man. One woman asked why he was not supervised.
"That would be up to Florida," Rogers said. "He served his time and finished probation in August 2004."
Another attendee wondered how long Carroll or any offender is kept in the registry. Carroll will report quarterly and a new photograph will be taken, Rogers said. "Many classes, including SVPs (sexually violent predators), never get off the registry," he said. "Others are on 10 years and then can petition the court to remove them from the commitment of registering. That decision would be up to the individual judge." Highlands Ranch resident Marty Hersh took the microphone and boiled the night down to education.
"You heard what the woman said earlier: one in four women are sexually assaulted," Hersh said. "In this room, that means several hundred people are victims. I watch DCTV and I know how to finish my basement and what the building inspector does. This is what we should be seeing - how to protect our children."
After last Thursday's meeting, Hersh, a 23-year veteran of the Denver Police Department, explained more.
"I think we missed the whole point of the meeting," he said. "The meeting was to educate us, but we focused on one guy. Anyone on any block could abuse kids. The parents didn't get it. They were so angry over one creep. They need to educate kids."
To get a copy of the information given at the meeting, contact the Douglas County Sheriff's Office in Castle Rock or visit the Lincoln Avenue substation, 9350 Heritage Hills Drive. The substation is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. To get a copy of all sexual offenders registered in the county, a charge for $1 will be assessed. Non-county residents will need to prove a need to know.
Calls to the Andrews home for comment from Carrol were not returned.
Contact Robyn Lydick at rlydick@ccnewspapers.net.
By Felisa Cardona
Denver Post Staff Writer
Post / Andy Cross
Highlands Ranch resident Jeff Rudolph listens at a meeting held Thursday evening by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office at ThunderRidge High School about a sex offender living in the neighborhood.
Douglas County - Several hundred Highlands Ranch residents upset that a sex offender has moved into their neighborhood asked Douglas County authorities Thursday night how they can protect their children.
During a question-and-answer session with sheriff's officials in the ThunderRidge High School gym, angry parents wanted to know why a sexually violent predator was living among them.
Michael Christopher Carroll, 36, moved to the 1700 block of Mountain Maple Avenue about two weeks ago and registered with authorities after serving time in Florida for several sexual offenses involving young boys.
Patricia Whattam, a mother of four who lives two doors from Carroll, said she wanted to know if she could post a huge sign in her yard warning neighbors that Carroll was living there.
"I want to post this so that he does not get cozy, so that he gets up and leaves this area," she said during public comment.
Sheriff's Sgt. Paul Rogers said he was glad to see the community concern but urged the crowd not to harass Carroll or become vigilantes.
"These people have to live somewhere," Rogers said. "Harassment tends to drive these people underground, and if they go underground we do not know where they are or what they are doing."
Post / Andy Cross Yulia and Jerry Andrews leave the gym Thursday at ThunderRidge High School. The sex offender is living at their home.
The audience was mostly angry at Jerry and Yulia Andrews, the owners of the home where Carroll is living.
The couple attended the meeting and were booed and confronted by audience members about why they allowed Carroll to come to Highlands Ranch. Several neighbors accused them of running an illegal escort service out of the house and luring neighborhood children over for a Halloween party last year.
The couple denied anything illegal was going on in their home.
Jerry Andrews used to work with Carroll in Key West, Fla., at a strip club and decided to give him a chance, he said. Andrews has his own criminal convictions, including prison time for credit-card fraud and living off prostitution earnings.
Jerry and Yulia Andrews said they installed an alarm system in the house to alert them if Carroll tries to leave at night.
"We need to give everyone a chance," Yulia Andrews said. "Everyone is talking about victim support, but no one is talking about offender support."
The couple said Carroll won't be living in Highlands Ranch for long. He is expected to stay with them for only a few more weeks or until they can find better living arrangements.
Carroll works out of the home as a handyman for a business called Progressive Ceramics.
Michael Christopher Carroll, 36, served time for sex offenses involving young boys. Karen Linamen, also a Highlands Ranch resident, told sheriff's officials that she was thinking of installing an alarm system in her home, especially after learning that the children Carroll had sexually assaulted were strangers and not children he was familiar with.
"It's apparent that he will do this again," Linamen said.
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-820-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com .
By Kirk Mitchell
Denver Post Staff Writer
Michael C. Carroll lives in Highlands Ranch with his former employer, Jerry Andrews. Carroll is a registered sexual predator, and both men have criminal records.
Carroll was convicted of a sex offense against a child in 1990, an indecent assault against a child in 1991 and lewd conduct involving a child in 1997, all in Florida, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Lt. Alan Stanton, spokesman for the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, said Carroll did not touch any of the children involved in the Florida cases.
He masturbated in front of boys, Stanton said.
But according to a Palm Beach Post article, Carroll served four years in prison for fondling two Broward County children. He was released in 1995.
On Sept. 7, 1997, Carroll approached three boys - including an 11-year-old - and asked them to perform sex acts on him for money, according to the newspaper. He also offered to pay a 15-year-old boy for sex in July 1997 at the Shadowood shopping center west of Boca Raton, The Palm Beach Post reported.
He began serving his sentence in 1998.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office arrested Carroll in June after he was caught viewing pictures of little boys in their underwear, according to the newspaper.
He was charged with one count of disorderly conduct and one charge of violating parole, the paper said. The outcomes of those charges couldn't be determined.
The CBI placed Carroll on the state's list of sexually violent predators, making him the third on the list.
Andrews has served prison sentences for earning a living off of prostitution, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, intimidating witnesses and credit-card fraud.
Andrews said he was innocent of all of the crimes and is appealing.
(NOTE: The time for appealing any of these convictions is long past.)
A bill introduced in the state Legislature last week would prevent sexually violent predators from living or working near schools, day care centers, playgrounds or anywhere else children can be found.
State Rep. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, and Rep. Gwen Green, D-Golden, have co-authored House Bill 1326, which would restrict where those classified as sexually violent predators can live or work.
The legislation comes in the wake of a controversial meeting to introduce the Highlands Ranch community to one of Colorado's three registered sexually violent predators, who lives near ThunderRidge High School. The bipartisan bill would prohibit a sexually violent predator from living or working within 1,500 feet of a school, day care center, other child care facility, playground, video arcade, shopping center or mall. Parks and open space without playgrounds are not addressed in the bill.
HB 1326 does not apply to all registered sex offenders; rather those deemed by the state to be sexually violent predators, Harvey said.
"We cannot afford to risk the safety of our children," he said. "The chances are too high that these predators will strike again. We don't want it to be in a playground or other area where children would be the likely victims."
Local governments, such as Douglas County, would be able to impose stricter standards. Harvey told delegates at last week's Recreation Advisory Committee meeting that 11 states have restrictions on where sexual offenders can live or work. Most of those states have either 1,000- or 2,000-foot boundaries. Split the difference and 1,500 feet from a school, park or recreation center works for HB 1326, Harvey said.
"Statistics show that most perpetrators know their victims. The bill is designed to keep them from living or working where kids hang out and limit their ability to establish a relationship with or prey on kids," Harvey said. The law would not affect Michael Carroll, the predator in Highlands Ranch, because the law would apply only to offenses committed after July 1. The house Carroll lives in at 1780 Mountain Maple Ave. is barely within the 1,500-foot circle.
"Not to be flip, but how about 150 miles from a school?" asked Larry Perkins, a delegate to the Highlands Ranch Community Association.
"Well, Akron wouldn't like that," Harvey quipped. "Actually, I made a map with one-mile circles around every school, park, rec center and they would have to live in the Pike National Forest."
Perkins' eyes widened, he shrugged his shoulders and held his hands up in a "so what?" gesture. Cathryn Hazouri, executive director of the Denver chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the bill does not truly protect people while keeping offenders from being able to support themselves.
"The major issue is that the bill almost entirely eliminates huge portions of a city for these people to be able to live and work," Hazouri said. "With a 1,500 feet barrier, take a dishwasher for example. Often, that's the sort of job these people can get. Most restaurants are attached to a shopping center, so they would not be able to work there. Then what do they do? Go on welfare?"
Hazouri said she is aware her organization works to protect the rights of people "society hates," adding that portions of HB 1326 are too vague in definition.
"What is a shopping center?" she asked. "Is a King Soopers, a Chinese restaurant and a bike shop a shopping center? The bill is unnecessarily broad and vague."
Hazouri understands the desire to protect people, especially children, from sexual predators, but said this bill is not the answer.
"The bill says they cannot live or work within 1,500 feet of the locations. It does not say they cannot shop, loiter or walk in the area," Hazouri said. "The bill won't function. It will not make streets any safer. It's only an attempt to find a way to protect people."
Contact Robyn Lydick at rlydick@ccnewspapers.net.
"We have a man from a different neighborhood willing to put up $300,000," said Jay Hillman, who lives across the street and a couple doors down from convicted sex offender Michael Carroll.
Hillman would not say who the man was, only that he was willing to buy the house as an investment. Based on a situation in Cincinnati, Ohio, where neighbors paid a man $20,000 to move, the residents of the Mountain Maple neighborhood are looking into collecting money from each family to send Jerry Andrews, who owns the home Carroll is living in near ThunderRidge High School, and Carroll packing.
Hillman and his wife have discussed taking out a loan to buy the house themselves, but decided they could not handle the debt alone.
Some residents question whether buying Andrews' house will rid them of the problem, of if he would simply turn around and purchase another home in the neighborhood. In an April 1 interview, Andrews said he wanted to more out of Colorado. Repeated attempts to contact Andrews for comment about whether he'd be open to an offer to buy his house were unsuccessful before press time.
"We know it's not curing the problem but moving the problem," Hillman said of possibly making an offer to buy the house. In addition to Carroll, Highlands Ranch is home to 31 registered sexual offenders, although Carroll is the only one classified by the state as a sexually violent offender. Together the 29 men and two women account for 37 acts, including 11 offenses against children. The offenders range in age from 16 to 54.
Investigators Paul Rodgers and Brian Rademacher, both of Douglas County, spoke about patrols and options the neighbors have for additional security.
"Patrols have continued in the neighborhood," Rademacher said. "We can't leave a car there all day because that will take a patrol car away from another area."
Another option neighbors could use is hiring off-duty deputies for times they feel children are at highest risk. "You could hire Wackenhut [private security service] to sit there, if you wanted," Rodgers said. Rademacher said residents should consider the overall number of offenders in Highlands Ranch, adding that Carroll is not the most dangerous, judging by convictions.
"This guy has not touched anyone," he said. "If he had offended in Colorado, we would not be here today because he probably would not have been placed on the sexually violent predator list. Florida has 35,000 people on the sexual predator list. We have three."
Douglas County Commissioner Steve Boand was at an April 26 community meeting to speak about a bill sponsored by state Reps. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, and Gewn Green, D-Golden, limiting the areas in which a sexually violent predators may live or work.
The bill, House Bill 1326, prohibits SVPs and others from living or working within 1,500 feet of schools, playgrounds or child care facilities. The effective date clause said the bill, if passed, would apply to offenses committed after July 1. Harvey was presenting the bill to a Highlands Ranch Metro Districts meeting the same night as the neighborhood meeting. The bill was in committee Tuesday.
Metro Districts boards adopted a resolution supporting the bill, voting 4-1. Boand said Douglas County has also examined a restriction on sexual offenders. "We started on looking at local ordinances and we found most had 1,000 to 1,500 feet radius levels," Boand said. "There were a couple tests we had to meet, most importantly did it meet the statute test?"
To contact Robyn Lydick, e-mail rlydick@ccnewspapers.net or call 303-794-1606 ext. 1007.
To read news coverage on Denver Television Station Chan. 4 click here
To read news coverage on the Denver Channel click here