An Oklahoman man convicted of secretly recording women in his bathroom is fighting a Homeowner's Association for refusing to let him live in the neighborhood.
Sex Offender Sues HOA in Norman Oklahoma
Dustin Bailey Graham, 29, was recently released from prison and tried to move into Carrington Place, a Norman neighborhood in which his wife and mother-in-law had purchased a home. According to Graham's wife, she and her mother had searched for a home that would allow her husband to comply with state sex offender registry restrictions, and she was told by the Norman Police Department and Graham's probation officer that his move into the neighborhood would be allowed.
However, when Graham was released from prison in May and moved into the neighborhood, a Norman city council member who lives in the neighborhood alerted the HOA that a registered sex offender was attempting to move in. A recently changed law regarding sex offender residency restrictions allowed the HOA to prevent him from moving into the neighborhood. Norman Police, who reportedly initially allowed the move, told Graham that because the new law clarifies that sex offenders may not live within 2,000 feet of a public or private park, including the HOA park, he was not legally permitted to live at the home in Carrington Place.
The clarifications to the law took effect on November 1, 2015. Although the home had been purchased prior to that date, the mortgage to the house is not in Graham's name, and he was not residing at the home prior to the revisions becoming law. An attorney for the HOA says that because Graham was not living at the home and is not listed as the owner of the home prior to the change in law, he has no basis for trying to live at the home, which falls inside the sex offender "zone of safety" around the park.
Graham filed a petition in Cleveland County District Court seeking a restraining order against the HOA and the City of Norman to prevent them from enforcing the move; that petition was denied earlier this month. A judge is expected to reach a decision next month regarding whether or not the man will be allowed to move into Carrington Place.
Details of His Conviction
Graham was convicted of secretly video taping several women as they changed clothes in his bathroom. Victims included his girlfriend, her mother, and her sisters. He is required to register as a sex offender based on a child pornography charge stemming from the fact that one of those he videotaped changing into a bathing suit was a minor.
He was charged in October 2012 and sentenced in August 2014. At his sentencing, a counselor specializing is sex addiction testified that he had been undergoing treatment and counseling for more than two years, and that he was not a threat to society. The counselor testified that there is a low recidivism rate for sex addicts who receive appropriate treatment.
Graham was given a 10-year sentence with five years suspended. He was released from prison in May 2016 and will remain on probation until 2024.
