Crowd Confronts Operator Over Sex Offenders at Rochester House

About 60 protesters confronted the operator of Rochester House in Los Angeles on Friday about the 20 registered sex offenders living there.

The protesters, chanting as they marched a short way to the sober-living residence, were met by Edmund Anderson, who had set up a stage with microphones in the driveway, hoping to have a dialogue.

He already was in the process of finding other locations for the offenders, he told the crowd.

“I am phasing them out, and I am relocating them,” Anderson said. “I am responding to your concerns.”

About 30 sex offenders had been living at the home in recent weeks. That number has been reduced to 20, he said.

“Next week it will be even less than that,” said Anderson. “It was not my intention to put you in harm’s way.”

The crowd remained unappeased, often interrupting or shouting him down.

“I am afraid for our daughters,” said Antonio Mazariegos, who lives a block and a half away from the home, which is on Rochester Circle near USC. “I leave for work and I worry about leaving them home alone.”

Community activist Najee Ali told Anderson the protesters were not there to be confrontational, but that the neighborhood felt threatened.

“We can’t afford to wait until something happens.”

Anderson said earlier Friday that he had sought help from state and city officials in relocating the sex offenders.

He is seeking conditional-use permits allowing sober-living facilities to be in commercial or industrial zones, he said, but thus far has had no success.

Rather than finding a reasonable long-term solution to the problem, he said, activists and elected officials have inflamed neighborhood passions and created a dangerous environment. As news of the facility’s existence has become widespread, residents of the home have been threatened and intimidated.

“People are driving by threatening their lives,” Anderson said.

“Gang members came by today saying they’re going to do something to anybody they know who is connected with the house.”

Not all of the residents of Rochester House are sex offenders, Anderson said.

He had hoped the demonstrators would be surprised to learn that he had tried to work with the city to resolve the problem.

The crowd, however, remained unconvinced, and the protest ended with both sides arguing.