Milwaukee legislator "afraid" sex offender will end up in a Milwaukee neighborhood

It is yet another twist in the fight over where to place a violent sex offender. First it was Milwaukee, then a small town in Fond du Lac County, now Milwaukee is back in the mix again.

It all started with Milwaukee Alderman Tony Zielinski fighting to keep a convicted sex offender out of a home in the Bay View neighborhood.

The state looked to a small Fon du Lac town, but after a fight, the state backed away.

Now a state lawmaker says that offender could end up in Milwaukee.

51 year old Clint Rhymes is a man convicted of second degree of sexual assault back in the late 80's. He served time, and is ready for supervised release according to the state.

State Representative Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee) said, "It's anger, anger there's nothing else to describe it. We have been fighting this Van Beck house… we've been fighting this for years. Alderman Zielinski, myself, the community and they [state officials] continue to use that house to place violent sex offenders."

She's talking about a house in the Bay View neighborhood where two violent sex offenders already live, the state wanted to add Rhymes this summer.

Zielinski fought that, so the state looked other places. Now Sinicki says the state has nowhere else to turn, and may try again to put Rhymes in that Van Beck house.

"They [state officials] figure they already got the house, already got two men in there, so I’m afraid they're going to try to get away with putting a third person in there." she said.

Governor Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin) said the state has no choice and some offenders need to be released and put somewhere.

Walker said, “The bottom line is the Department of Corrections has a difficult task because of the courts. They can’t not place people.  If we could keep them permanently, I think that would be our preference but there’s an ongoing concern form a legal standpoint that people under the law…  That’s long before I was governor in previous administrations so there’s got to be a careful balance. So certainly our expectations, the DOC whether it’s in Milwaukee, Fon du Lac, or anywhere else follows the law but does so in a way that ensures public safety.”

Zielinski tells me today he does not think a judge will break city ordinance to place Rhymes in that home, but still says anything is possible.

There’s a hearing on this set for 11 tomorrow morning in Milwaukee County Court.