For some sex offenders, law puts church off-limits

RALEIGH, N.C. - Convicted sex offender James Nichols said he was trying to better himself by going to church. The police who arrested him said the church was off-limits to him because it had a day-care center.

Now Nichols is challenging North Carolina's sex-offender laws in a case that pits the constitutional right to religious freedom against the state's goal of protecting the public from child molesters.

"I just started asking the question 'Why? Why am I being treated this way after trying to better myself?' " said Nichols, 31, who was twice convicted of indecent liberties with a teenage girl and again in 2003 for attempted second-degree rape.

At issue in Nichols' case and a similar one in Georgia are day-care centers and youth programs at houses of worship where sex offenders can be near children.

Sex-offender advocates agree some convicts should not be allowed around children, but they contend that barring all offenders denies them support needed to become productive citizens.

"Criminalizing the practice of religion for everyone on the registry will do more harm than good," said Sara Totonchi, policy director for the Southern Center for Human Rights.

Thirty-six states establish zones where sex offenders cannot live or visit. Some states provide exemptions for churches, but many do not.

In December, North Carolina state legislators barred sex offenders from being within 300 feet of any place intended primarily for the use or care of minors.

Three months later, Nichols was arrested after attending Sunday services. He said he was "floored" to learn he was picked up because Moncure Baptist Church has a child-care center for families attending services.

In Georgia, the Southern Center for Human Rights sued the state in part because the law there prevents offenders from volunteering in places of worship.

The lawsuit, brought on behalf of Georgia's 16,000-plus registered sex offenders, is pending in federal court.

Katherine Parker, legal director for the ACLU of North Carolina, said she was not aware of religion-based challenges to sex-offender laws in any other states. The ACLU is helping in Nichols' case.

Sarah Tofte, a legal researcher with Human Rights Watch, said: "It's not clear that there's any public-safety purpose to these laws. . . . If they can successfully transition to the community, to include going to church, they are less likely to re-offend."

Some lawmakers say offenders such as Nichols should blame themselves for breaking the law in the first place.

"I'm not denying him the right to go to church," said State Sen. David Hoyle, the Democrat who sponsored the North Carolina bill. "He denied himself that."