MOUNT VERNON – One of the many problems homelessness creates for people living in that condition is the increased exposure to crime, Knox County Prosecutor Chip McConville told the Mount Vernon News.
That fact was highlighted last November when a homeless Mount Vernon man was attacked with a machete and sustained a gash that required staples. The homeless man’s tent was also set on fire.
“We are seeing homelessness associated with a lot of crimes,” the prosecutor said. “It does make for situations where people are vulnerable to being taken advantage of.”
The district attorney has a case currently pending in which a young homeless woman was taken in by a man who then allegedly raped her.
In another case last year, a homeless man allegedly hit a man in the leg with a baseball bat and took his wallet.
“The victim had complications and his leg had to be amputated below the knee,” McConville said.
It can be more difficult for the homeless to get help when they have been victims of a crime, the district attorney noted.
“When someone calls 911, the first thing they ask is for your address,” he said. “If you don’t have an address, it’s a whole lot tougher to respond.”
Homelessness can also cause problems for convicted sex offenders, McConville said.
In 2019, a Mount Vernon homeless man was convicted on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender. His attorney said the man didn’t have a fixed address to register or a phone to call in.
“You have people who will say they are homeless but then don’t register any kind of place where they can be found, which is what is required by law,” McConville said. “That plays a role in a lot of our sex offender registration cases. You don’t have to give us an address necessarily, but you can tell us where to find you.”
In Knox County, there is a growing awareness of the problem of homelessness.
“There are shelters now in Knox County,” the district attorney said. “Just getting people off the streets and giving them a place to stay is important.”
