EUNICE, La. (KLFY)- A sex offender who had been convicted with possession of pornography involving juveniles recently moved to a neighborhood on 7th Street in Eunice.
But with Eunice Jr. High being so close to his new home, residents are in an uproar.

“These children should not be prisoners of their own house because they’ve got a pedophile that lives in the neighborhood. These children should not be punished for what this man did,” said one resident.

They’re wondering why he’s allowed to live so close to the school.

“When a person is convicted of having possession of [child porn], whether the pictures are [of younger or older kids], it’s not an actual physical victim,” Mike Soileau, supervisor of the sex offender unit for SLPSO, explains. “Therefore that particular charge as it stands now, does not fall under this statute.”

The statute he’s referring to is what they call the ‘1000 Foot Restriction,’ where some sex offenders aren’t allowed to live within that distance of certain schools or public parks.

But people in the neighborhood say that law needs to change.
“I would just hope that the law would get stricter on where they’re allowed to live and not be so close to a school or a park. This are children. It’s our jobs to protect our children,” said one neighbor.

Another resident says she’s going to push for a change in this law by speaking to her state representatives and she encourages other parents who feel the same way to do it too.

Sheriff Guidroz says he hears the people’s cries and is willing to help with that change.

“I will address that with the legislature. So if we have to, we’re going to get together on this particular law and make some fine tuning and adjustments that need to be made,” Guidroz said.

You can click here for a link to the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office sex offender registry, to find out what sex offenders live near you.