New Delhi: In Florida, released sex offenders face harsh restrictions on where they can live. One man's answer was Miracle Village, a ‘leper colony' that now houses more than 100 former prisoners. Miracle Village lies deep in a sea of green. This is sugar cane country, south Florida. At the edge of the everglades, and over two miles from the nearest town, around 200 people live in the small, neat bungalows. More than 100 of them are registered sex offenders - people who were found guilty, and have usually served a prison sentence, for a sex crime. Some of them had sex with their underage girlfriends. Some viewed child pornography. One resident, a leader in the ministry, was a teacher at a Palm Beach County school who confessed to molesting students. There is one woman, the rest are men. Some of them viewed child pornography, or molested their own children. Others abused minors when they were in positions of power - there is a teacher here, a pastor, a sports coach. There are those who have been to prison for exposing themselves. A number of residents were convicted because they had sex with underage girlfriends. Under Florida's state law none of them can live within 1,000 feet of a school, day care centre, park or playground. Florida is considered the sunshine state and home to more than 55,000 sexual offenders. Cities and counties have extended those restrictions up to 2,500 feet - about half a mile. And in some places swimming pools, bus stops and libraries are out of bounds too. The effect has been to push sex offenders out of densely populated areas. Until the 1960s, sugar cane workers from the Caribbean used to live there for part of the year. Then mechanization took over, meaning sugar companies needed far fewer workers, and the plantation fell into disrepair. Powers remembers the area being completely rat-infested when Christian non-profit organization Matthew 25 Ministries started using it to house sex offenders in 2009. Today, the lawns are well-kept and most of the houses are either renovated or in the process of being refurbished by residents. But for most, Miracle Village was the only choice.
