MUKWONAGO -- A family wants to move out of one of the safest city's in Wisconsin because they don’t like their new neighbors.
"How are we supposed to feel?” Joel Feich said. "We have four children."
Joel and Lynda Feich no longer feel the same about the home they’ve lived in for 25 years because of the men who recently moved-in next door:
- Shaun Sanders has been charged with repeated sexual assault of a child
- John Hanson has been charged with child enticement
- David Chiappetta has been charged with using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime
“It’s ridiculous and sad,” Joel said. “We live three blocks from the library and six blocks from both schools. Now, we’re trying to sell our house and we can’t do that either. Somebody came by and looked at it but said they wouldn’t buy it because they did some research and child predators live next to us.”
The Feich’s said the Village of Mukwonago isn’t helping them.
"They're like sorry our hands are tied,” Lynda said. "I'm like, 'Do you guys want to live here?' Everybody says no. But what's our option?”
John Weidl, Mukwonago’s village administrator, said Mukwonago is one of many communities that doesn’t have a specific ordinance dealing with sex offenders. Now, they’re working to pass one that mirrors a new state law, which keeps sex offenders from living 1,500 feet from where children are, such as schools, parks and daycare centers.
“As soon as the state passed a law and created the path for us to prohibit residency, we moved with them,” Weidl said. “The state is our barometer on many of these issues."
But sex offenders who moved-in before the ordinance can stay where they are, leaving the Feich’s with one piece of advice for others:
“Be aware and know your neighbors,” Lynda said. “Make sure wherever you choose to live has an ordinance in place so this doesn’t happen to you.”
Weidl said the village is actively looking into how they can help the Feich family in this situation. Meanwhile, the Feich’s are meeting with an attorney.
