Neighbors protest presence of convicted sex offender

Jen Lawson

Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2004 | 9:21 a.m.

A convicted sexual predator has been ripping down Henderson Police fliers intended to notify the public that he is living in the neighborhood, but police said that is not a crime.

"There's nothing we can do about it," Officer Todd Rasmussen, police spokesman, said. "It's not illegal."

It also is not illegal that 32-year-old Ronald Hippie is living within walking distance of a day care center and Green Valley High School, something neighbors are protesting.

Hippie served 9 1/2 years in prison after he was convicted of kidnapping and attempted lewdness with a minor in December 1994. He is classified as a Tier 3 sex offender, the most serious type.

According to police records, in the 1994 case Hippie came out of some bushes, approached two 6-year-old girls who were walking home from school, unzipped his pants and fondled himself. They ran home and told their parents.

Hippie allegedly tried to sexually assault another child the same day. He asked a girl in an apartment complex where he could find the laundry room and when she entered he shoved her up against a wall and began to unzip his pants, police said. She screamed and was able to escape.

He served his entire sentence, so he was not placed under the supervision of a parole officer when he was released, Rasmussen said.

A law was passed in 1996, two years after Hippie was convicted, requiring sex offenders to be supervised by parole officers for life. Hippie does not fall under the law.

When he was released from prison in March, he lived with his parents in the 200 block of Odyssey Street near Valle Verde Drive and Windmill Parkway, Rasmussen said.

He moved into his own apartment in the Verde Viejo complex at 1575 W. Warm Springs Road and registered his new address with police on Aug. 23. He lives across the street from La Petite Academy day care center and across the street from Green Valley High School.

Police recently began mailing fliers to residents within one mile of Hippie's home and posting them in public places. Hippie and his mother were spotted taking them down, Rasmussen said. Officers checked to see if that was a crime and determined there was nothing they could charge him with.

"There is no law against that," Rasmussen said.