More than 100 registered sex offenders live in Miracle Village, Florida, a small and self-contained community on the edge of the everglades that offers those convicted of abusing minors, viewing child pornography or molesting their own children a place to reside, the Daily Mail reports.
The community is quiet and idyllic, bungalows lining a street of manicured lawns and tropical foliage. The village was set up in 2009 by Dick Witherow, a pastor with Matthew 25 Ministries who wanted to create a place where convicted sex offenders could live far from schools, parks, day care centers and playgrounds, places Florida law bans them from living within 1,000 feet of.
Though the village receives 10 to 20 applications from potential residents a week, the intake coordinators are selective in who they choose.
"We try not to accept people with a history of violence or drugs, or to take any diagnosed pedophile - that is, someone who can only become sexually aroused by a child," Jerry Youmans, the intake co-ordinator for the ministry who is also a registered sex offender, told the BBC. "We want to protect the people who are already here and those who were living here before us."
Surprisingly, some children reside in the village, as Florida state laws allow sex offenders to live in the same neighborhoods as minors, though they are banned from having any contact with them.
Christopher Dawson, 22, is one such resident, not allowed to speak to anyone under 18 after he was convicted of having sex with a 14-year old whom he believed to be older. He was placed on house arrest for two years and probation for eight, and after breaching his license, was ordered to the village by a judge.
"It's been a blessing in disguise... I feel as though I have a destiny with Miracle Village. I feel at home and safe here - I love the people," he told the BBC.
Click here to see photos of Miracle Village in Florida, the residential community for sex offenders that receives up to 20 applications a week.
