BLAINE, Minn. – (April 26, 2016) – A level three predatory offender will be moving into a Blaine neighborhood at the beginning of May. Roger Lynn Knode has a history of sexual conduct with adolescent males. He will be moving to Blaine in the vicinity of 113th Avenue and Hastings Street Northeast. A community notification meeting was held last week. Around 100 community members gathered to learn about the conditions surrounding the release of Knode. “He has been in prison since 2012 and he’ll be on what’s called intensive supervised release,” said MN Department of Corrections community notification coordinator Sarah Hustad. His supervision will include GPS monitoring and multiple in person visits from a corrections agents every week. “There is six different phases of this supervised release program where an agent can drop in on him at any time, generally about four days a week and he’s also required to call in every day and provide his schedule so they can go to where ever he is it doesn’t have to be his home, it could be his work, it could be his treatment place, any place he is found regularly. There is no set schedule to that so they could come in the middle of the night, they could come during the day and they don’t have a pattern” said Hustad. In addition to the intense supervision Knode will also have several other restrictions placed on him. “No availability to go on the internet except to look for a job at the workforce center, that’d be allowed, but that’s the only use of internet he would be able to have. No contact with minors either direct or indirect, no alcohol or drugs, zero tolerance for that. He has to obtain and maintain a full time schedule, employment is a priority,” said Hustad. The community notification law has been in place for 19 years, yet community meetings as still well attended and residents leave with valuable information. “It’s an opportunity to have a conversation about sex offenders in general and safety planning in particular. People can talk about what their safety planning process is now. Does it need some stepping up, what are they doing now, talk about family safety planning practicing it often,” said Hustad. In the case of Knode he had a prior relationship with all of his victims.
