Level three sex offender Robert Floyd Welch is once again living in the Pillager area, having spent approximately the past nine months in custody at the Cass County Jail.

"Why weren't we notifi ed before he moved back to this area?" was a question asked by at least three people attending a community meeting (led by law enforcement personnel) held at Pillager School May 19. Welch was released May 14.

Cass County Sheriff Randy Fisher and Cass County Attorney Chris Strandlie facilitated the community meeting, which was held to discuss the offender's status and to answer questions from the public. Approximately 30 people were in attendance.

Sheriff Fisher told the group that they were supposed to have been informed of the situation prior to Welch's release. In this particular case, however, that did not happen. "We didn't have advance

notice either," Strandlie added.

Welch is currently not on probation, Sheriff Fisher told the group. "He has the right to live where he wants to," he said.

The 41-year-old was not in custody for committing a crime or violating conditions as a Level 3 sex offender. He was arrested in September after the Cass County Attorney's office and the Minnesota Attorney General's office filed a petition with the Cass County District Court to commit Welch as a sexually dangerous person and a sexual psychopathic personality.

Recently, two psychiatrists assessed Welch, Fisher said. Only one recommended he be committed and the judge dismissed the case.

"I'd like to know who that judge is so I don't vote for him next time," one woman at the community meeting said.

"We're just as concerned

about this as you are," Sheriff

Fisher told the group. "That's why we hold these

meetings, to make sure that everyone is informed that he's been released from custody. We want you to know that we're doing what we can to make sure people are safe."

Risk levels fall into three categories, Fisher said: Level 1, which is low public risk; Level 2, which is moderate risk; and Level 3, which is high public risk.

This was the second community meeting held in Pillager to discuss Welch. The first took place Aug. 26, shortly after he decided to make his home in Pillager.

Welch was arrested just one month after the meeting Aug. 26, after the Cass County Attorney's office and the Minnesota Attorney General's office filed a petition with the Cass County District Court to commit Welch as a sexually dangerous person and a sexual psychopathic personality.

According to Fisher, the district court dismissed the commitment case on May 11.

Information about Welch's history was available at the meeting.

In 1994 and 1997, Welch was convicted of seconddegree criminal sexual conduct, after having contact with both males and females ages seven to fifteen, including fondling and penetration.

In 2006, he was convicted of stalking and harassing three girls in Brainerd and was sentenced to 79 months. He was released on Aug. 8, after the Minnesota Court of Appeals overturned the conviction and determined Welch had served his sentence.

Shortly after the community meeting Aug. 26, he was taken into custody for commitment hearings.

Currently, Welch is not on probation.

"I wonder how you'd feel if you lived on the same street that he (Welch) does?" Kathy Howland asked Sheriff Fisher. "We do."

Howland's teenage daughters, Kali and Kristina, expressed concerns as well. "I'm afraid every time we have to drive by his house," said Kristina, a 7th grader.