Press Release - Green Ad: Jim Doyle is Wrong on Crime

Green Ad: Jim Doyle is Wrong on Crime

Green's latest ad takes Doyle to task for allowing child molester to visit hom near school without notifying local official. Green also takes issue with Doyle's parole board freeing cop killers

GREEN BAY - For 18 months, Jim Doyle's Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS) allowed one of Wisconsin's most notorious child molesters, Billy Lee Morford, to make regular visits to a home in the city of Franklin without notifying local officials of his presence in their community.

The visits are the subject of Mark Green's latest campaign ad that also takes Doyle to task for opposing the original version of the "Gerald Turner Bill," which was aimed at keeping violent sexual offenders off the streets permanently. Gerald Turner, also know as the "Halloween Killer," raped and murdered a 9-year-old girl on Halloween in 1973.

Doyle's DHFS allowed the visits to Franklin by Morford even though the home was near a school and Morford had been accused of trying to lure a 10-year-old boy into performing a sex act at the same home in 1994. Morford was originally escorted by a security guard, but even that meager measure of safety was eliminated.

"Jim Doyle has no excuse for this breach of public trust by his administration," said Green. "Allowing this monster to roam free without notifying local law enforcement was a threat to the safety of the children of Franklin and should have never happened."

The city of Franklin is suing the state for "dereliction of duty" over the Morford situation.

Green's ad also criticizes Doyle for his parole commission's decision earlier this year to grant parole to two men who murdered a police officer.

"Cop killers will not be given early release when I am governor," said Green, who has been endorsed by the Milwaukee Police Association, the Racine Police Association, the International Union of Police Association and the Wisconsin Troopers Association.

Green has received national recognition for his work to protect families - especially women and children - from crime. He's the author of the "Two Strikes and You're Out" law for child sex offenders, the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, and he recently passed legislation that strengthened sex offender notification laws. The nation's most recognized crime-fighter, John Walsh, is featured in a radio ad supporting Green.

"Keeping our families - especially our children - out of harms way has always been at the top of my priority list," said Green. "As governor, I'll work to make sure that child molesters and cop killers stay where they belong - behind bars."

http://www.votemarkgreen.com/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=klIZIhN3JyE&b=1332301&ct=3221001