FLEMING ISLAND, Fla. – A Clay County registered sex offender said he plans to move, because his neighbors want him gone.
Carlos Rodriguez, who was caught in an undercover sting operation last November, was ordered to stay at least 1,000 feet away from where children congregate.
The 25-year-old recently moved back into his mother's house in Fleming Island, which is across the street from a popular school bus stop. That has some neighbors saying he's too close to children.
But it is legal for him to live there, News4Jax has learned. The Clay County Sheriff's Office said a school bus stop does not count in the guidelines for where Rodriguez can not live.
Rodriguez was convicted of using the Internet to lure a child for sex after police said he arranged to meet someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl for sex. He was really talking to an undercover officer and was arrested in the sting.
Rodriguez told News4Jax that he didn’t realize the undercover cop said she was 14. He thought she was 20, he said.
Rodriguez now carries the sexual offender label for the rest of his life.
He was released last week from jail after being sentenced to five years of probation with an ankle monitor bracelet.
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He moved back in with his mother, but after neighbors made it clear they don't want him around, Rodriguez said he's going to leave.
He said it's the first time anything like that has happened to him, and he would never molest children.
Rick Dorsey, who just moved in with his family a few doors down last week, said he checked the sex offender website when he purchased his house, and Rodriguez was not on it then.
Dorsey said he was glad to hear Rodriguez plans to leave, but he said the idea that school bus stops are exempt for sex offenders is crazy.
“That's exactly where kids congregate in the morning and when they get dropped off, so for that not to be included in the rules or the law is a huge loophole that needs to be closed,” Dorsey said.
The Clay County Sheriff's Office said the rules in place are state guidelines, and it would be up to the County Commissioners to make any changes regarding bus stops. County officials said such changes are not currently being considered.
School bus stops are are also exempt in Duval County, apparently because bus stop locations change almost every year.