With housing in Hyde Park, sex offender Szad vows he 'does not want to reoffend'

Lamoille County sheriff says released convict wants to be in supportive situation.
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20130807/NEWS02/308070011/

With housing in Hyde Park, sex offender Szad vows he 'does not want to reoffend' Lamoille County sheriff says released convict wants to be in supportive situation Aug. 7, 2013 5:34 PM Timothy J. Szad / AP Written by Matt Ryan Free Press Staff Writer Statement from Lamoille County Sheriff Roger Marcoux Statement from released sex offender Timothy Szad Sex offender Szad relocates to Hyde Park A convicted sex offender deemed likely to re-offend has moved into a home 1.5 miles from the Hyde Park middle and high school campus, and he has offered to check in daily with local law enforcement, according to police. Timothy Szad, 53, was convicted in 2000 of grabbing a disabled 13-year-old boy from the banks of the Williams River in Rockingham, handcuffing him and sexually assaulting him twice. Szad was sentenced in early 2001 to 7-20 years in prison, and released July 26 from the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield. Lamoille County Sheriff Roger Marcoux said he met with Szad and Pastor Pete Fiske of The Church at Prison on Wednesday morning and learned of Szad’s plan to move in with a member of the church in Hyde Park. “He was nervous, but very, very open, including talking about the event that landed him in jail,” Marcoux told the Burlington Free Press. “He says he doesn’t want to hurt anybody else and that he wants to put himself in a situation where he has the support to help him achieve that goal.” Marcoux said he knows where Szad will be living, but the sheriff declined to identify the location. “I don’t want a lot of people going up there and trespassing on that property and giving themselves problems,” he said. Fiske told the Free Press that Szad intends to cooperate with police and to continue therapy with the Vermont Treatment Program for Sexual Abusers. “He’s determined to stay safe and to never offend again,” Fiske said. “He’s doing everything that he possibly can. He’s doing nothing wrong; he’s doing everything right.” Szad has registered with the Vermont sex-offender registry as required by law, but he is otherwise not being supervised by the Department of Corrections. He was released after serving his maximum sentence, with time off for good behavior. He also has no legal obligation to check in with local law enforcement but has volunteered to do so at the Lamoille County Sheriff’s Department. “He said he wanted to do that,” Marcoux said. “Our game plan is to be very close to him, have an open rapport with him where he can call us, and we can call him.”