About three dozen people protested a local provider of sex offender housing outside one of its facilities near Lacey late Friday afternoon.
The protesters lined the sidewalk in front of a Supreme Living facility at 6622 Martin Way East for over an hour. They gathered in response to a Facebook post that called on locals to mobilize against the embattled residential care services company.
Supreme Living drew the ire of some people after their plans to house sex offenders on a 15-acre property near Tenino came to light late last year. The company planned to welcome its first resident at the home by Feb. 1, but permitting concerns raised by Thurston County delayed those plans.
The facility, which is officially called a Less Restrictive Alternative community home, is located at 2813 140th Ave. SW. It may house up to five clients of the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services, including sex offenders released from McNeil Island Special Commitment Center.
Many of the protesters who gathered on Friday carried signs with messages that opposed Supreme Living's plans near Tenino. However, many of them had other concerns related to the facility behind them.
Kerri Jeter, who administers a Facebook group opposed to local sex offender housing, organized the protest after learning eight sex offenders live at the facility.
She also believes one person recently absconded from the facility based on updates to the Thurston County Sheriff's Office sex offender registry.
"The community should be aware of this person at large," Jeter said. "This same company can't even contain and do the right thing with this sex offender, and we're going to be entrusting them with sexually violent predators? ... They're not equipped to do that job."
The Sheriff's Office sex offender registry website lists eight sex offenders who reside on the 6600 block of Martin Way. Jeter says an additional person was previously listed but they have since been labeled "non-compliant" and without an address.
The Olympian could not independently confirm whether this individual did abscond. The Thurston County Sheriff's Office did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Supreme Living Responds
Supreme Living did not directly respond to a request for comment from The Olympian. Instead, company management published a statement on the Supreme Living website Friday evening in response to the protest and recent threats against it.
"As a provider of services that are needed in this community, Supreme Living is saddened by the conduct that has been directed against us," the statement reads.
The company alleges its offices and Tenino property have been trespassed, vandalized and damaged. They further allege that the company owners and staff have been harassed and received death threats.
"We recognize that facility siting can lead to emotional discussions," the statement reads. "We understand the need for conversations, but as the Sheriff has publicly stated, threats and violence cross the line. The safety of our staff, residents and the community at large remain Supreme Living's highest priority."
The statement also explains that the company operates two facilities in Thurston County, an Enhanced Services Facility licensed by DSHS that opened in 2021, and a Residential Treatment Facility licensed by the state Department of Health that opened in December.
"The residents of our facilities generally transfer from behavioral health hospitals," the statement reads. "Some of them are veterans. None of the residents of either facility came from the (Special Commitment Center) unit at McNeil Island."
Supreme Living says these facilities house 15 residents each and are staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by nurses, certified nurse's assistants and mental health professionals.
The company also says its facilities have a "positive working relationship" with local service providers, neighbors and law enforcement, including the Sheriff's Office.
Protesters' Concerns
Jeter said she started looking into the Martin Way facility after she contacted a local recovering addict who uses services on the same block.
"She just feels really uncomfortable and triggered because her coping mechanism was drug addiction as a result of sexual trauma in her own life," Jeter said.
This person's experience speaks to one of Jeter's concerns about placing sex offenders in local communities.
"These facilities are retraumatizing men, women and children who already have a story of victimization," Jeter said. "To inform the public to be transparent, to be honest about what's going on, really allows people who have that experience to really mentally prepare and be equipped instead of being reactive and unaware."
Kendahl Tuttle, a Tenino resident, attend the protest on Friday. She said she believes the public should be made more aware of where sex offenders are housed.
"I think it's really important that people in this neighborhood can see what exactly is going on here," Tuttle said. "You see a sign that says Supreme Living and it looks like a perfectly decent apartment complex. And this is full of violent sex offenders."
Leslie Cox, a Littlerock resident, waved a sign from the sidewalk as some passing cars honked. She said she chose to protest on Friday because she believes Supreme Living is in the wrong.
"You can protest against a lot of things, but this is worthwhile," Cox said. "It affects all of us, not just women and children, but the whole community. What they're doing is wrong and spending our tax money for it too, that's such a slap in the face."
