Convicted sex offender can stay in Merritt Island neighborhood, judge says

Richard Vassallo was convicted of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under 12

UPDATED 11:25 PM EST Jan 05, 2016

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MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. —Some angry Merritt Island residents attempted to get a sex offender kicked out of his own home, but a judge ruled that he could continue living there.

The residents did not want the man, Richard Vassallo, living in their neighborhood.

Residents argued that a private park and a school bus stop in their neighborhood meant the sex offender could not legally live there.

"I don't recall seeing a sign there. I have no idea," said Richard Vassallo, a convicted sex offender.

Vassallo insisted on the witness stand that he did not know anything about a school bus stop in his Merritt Island neighborhood, even though the stop is at the main intersection leading into the subdivision. A 13-year-old girl who uses the bus stop said Vassallo had been staring at her.

"After I got to the bus stop, he got into his car and drove up to me," said the teen.

Vassallo was convicted of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under 12. Under state and county law, he can't live within 1,000 feet of a park or a place where children congregate, but he bought a house, paid with cash, in the upscale Sun Ridge subdivision on Merritt Island. The neighborhood not only has a bus stop, but also a private park, both of which locations children congregate. Vassallo got the approval of probation officials before moving in.

"We don't consider a bus stop to be a place where children congregate," said Rebecca Gabor, a probation officer.

"Our big concern is that we have a sexual predator living in our neighborhood and the probation office has allowed him to live within 1,000 feet of our private park," said neighborhood resident Michael Kruse.