A three-judge panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled that sex offenders can attend church, rejecting a legal argument that church buildings could be defined as “school property.” In a decision issued Tuesday, the panel ruled in favor of three unnamed plaintiffs suing Boone County, overturning a lower decision that accepted the state’s argument that they could not attend due to churches having children present. Judge Margret Robb authored the opinion, noting that state law “does not say
churches, Sunday school, or anything related to religious instruction for children is ‘school property.'” “In considering the structure of the statute and viewing it as a whole, we cannot say the legislature intended to prohibit Appellants or other ‘serious sex offenders’ from entering church property if that church offers Sunday school or child care services for children in the relevant age group,” wrote Judge Robb. READ MORE
