Last month, the Cortez Police Department announced at a community meeting that sex offender Lucas B. Keck, 25, would reside at the Ute Mountain Motel on South Broadway after his release from prison on Sept. 30. Keck never checked in, according to motel owner Gene Baxstrom.
Baxstrom said that he wouldn’t have agreed to house a known sex offender, and that two families, one with a week-long reservation, canceled stays at his 38-room motel after learning of the announcement.
“It hurt my business,” said Baxstrom.
He also said the announcement misinformed the public.
“No one has known where this man has been living,” he said.
Local officials said the information was what they had at the time.
“We only put out the information that was provided to us by probation officials,” said Police Chief Roy Lane.
On Friday, Lane said that Keck was at a relative’s home at 618 E. Fourth St., less than a mile from Montezuma-Cortez High School. Lane said a second community notification meeting wasn’t “necessary.”
Officials warn that residents who harass or threaten convicted sex offenders could face criminal charges.
Records show Keck was convicted in the 22nd Judicial District of attempted sexual assault on a child in February 2011. He had faced three felony sex assault charges in incidents that allegedly occurred in January 2010.
According to police, Keck was released after serving three years in prison. Police are required to notify residents after a high-risk offender is released.
Of the more than 16,000 registered sex offenders in Colorado, about 21 reside within the city limits of Cortez, according to the Cortez Police Department.
No laws exist barring registered sex offenders from living near school campuses, Lane confirmed.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com