Seven Child Rapists Housed Near School

Frank O. Rowles

Thomas A. Chew

Dale L. Goff

Scott C. Mayer

Robert Santmyer

Christopher Zimmerman

The good news is that the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services has established a system of ranking convicted sexual predators it releases back into society, so that potential victims can assess the threat level they’ll have to live with should one of these scumbags move into their neighborhood.

After examining the facts in a particular case, the use of force, weapons, alcohol or drugs, victim's age, number of victims, assault or injury of the victim and relationship to the victim, the court makes a determination regarding the offender's risk level.

The risk level is based on the court's assessment regarding whether a particular offender is likely to repeat the same or similar crime and the danger the offender poses to the community. Because the risk level reflects factors unique to a particular sex offender, offenders convicted of the same offense may receive different risk levels.

Under the system, Level 2 and Level 3 offenders are the worst. Level 2 offenders represent a “moderate risk” of committing another sex crime, and Level 3 offenders represent a “high risk of repeat offense and a threat to public safety.”

Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders are required to be registered for life.

The bad news is that six of the seven sex offenders living at the Midtown Inn, 1967 Niagara St., just a few steps away from the Niagara Street Elementary School and even closer to the daycare center run by the Christ’s Redemption Church, are Level 3 offenders, while the seventh has been classified as Level 2.

Level 3 offenders in particular are characterized as ticking time bombs by law enforcement authorities. Incurable and insatiable, they will remain dangerous for as long as they live.

Here are the seven the state – in its infinite wisdom - has decided would be a good fit in the Niagara Street Elementary School neighborhood, along with details of the crimes that got them listed in the first place.

FRANK O. ROWLES

The worst of this lot is Frank O. Rowles, a dirty, bearded 53-year-old bum with a penchant for violently raping little girls.

He’s done it twice in Niagara County, and at least once in Fairmount, Ga. Rowles has been arrested on other charges as well, but none compares to the horrific ordeal he put two young girls through here in 1997.

According to police reports, Rowles violently raped and sodomized the girls, ages 9 and 13, repeatedly, threatening them and finally hitting them to fulfill his sick, pornography-fueled fantasies.

At press time, the exact nature of Rowles’ crimes in Georgia is unknown, but he is listed as a Level 3 offender on that state’s sex criminal registry as well.

How a violent sexual predator like Rowles gets released back into society is a subject for another article, but how this vicious Level 3 offender managed to be placed by the New York State Division of Parole in close proximity to more than 700 children at the school and the daycare center is something that demands an immediate and thorough investigation.

THOMAS A. CHEW

Another menace to society is Thomas H. Chew, another Level 3 offender who police say favors oral and anal sex with girls under the age of 11. Chew beat and raped a young Niagara Falls girl in 2004, according to police records.

Victims of predators like Chew often face a life sentence of anger and shame, and must deal with low self-esteem, flashbacks and trust issues. Many victims turn to drugs and alcohol as a way of coping with the childhood trauma that haunts them as adults.

Chew got five years for what he did to that little girl, and it’s just too bad that his fellow inmates allowed him to survive to walk the streets again, a free man.

ROBERT SANTMYER

A piece of human garbage foisted on the unsuspecting populace of Niagara Falls, 36-year-old Robert Santmyer did his time at the Livingstone Correctional Facility at Sonyea, N. Y., where, again, those he was incarcerated with let society down.

Records show Santmyer used violence in raping two girls, ages 14 and 16, in 2003. He is also listed as a dangerous Level 3 offender, and can quite likely be found at the convenience store across the street from Niagara Street Elementary on weekday afternoons when school lets out.

DANIEL PELCZYNSKI

When he’s not incarcerated, Daniel Pelczynski enjoys pornography and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with six-year-old girls, according to police records.

Another dangerous Level 3 offender who authorities say is quite likely to go out and destroy the lives of other innocent children, Pelczynski, 37, was babysitting his victim at the time of his 2004 crime.

He’s currently living in that house of depravity known as the Midtown Inn, where the passing parade on the sidewalk out front each day must seem like a smorgasbord does to a glutton.

DALE L. GOFF

Not to be outdone by the likes of Pelczynski, Level 3 offender Dale Goff actually shared his pornography with his victim, a girl who had not yet reached her 11th birthday. In the sterile parlance of a police report, he then engaged in sexual contact with her before subjecting her to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.

Imagine the child’s terror as the hulking, 250-pound Goff forced himself on her. Police say he is a sexually violent predator who is likely to destroy another child’s life, given half a chance, which is exactly what the state parole department has done following an incarceration of just six short years.

CHRISTOPHER ZIMMERMAN

Another monster with a taste for six-year-old girls, Christopher Zimmerman sexually abused his young Niagara Falls victim in 2008.

A deranged looking 30-year-old with ears like open taxi cab doors, Zimmerman must feel right at home with the likes of Goff, Chew, Pelczynski, Santmyer and Rowles, his housemates at the Midtown.

Do you think they sit around and talk about raping little children? It’s pretty much the only thing they have in common. Do you suppose they discuss ways they can do it again and not get caught?

Remember, each of these men has been characterized by the criminal justice system as “highly likely” to once again go out and sexually abuse, rape, and otherwise destroy, the lives of unsuspecting children.

It’s doubtful they’re conversing about the Yankees chances this year, the moribund Lewiston Road project or the upcoming City Council elections.

SCOTT C. MAYER

At least Scott Mayer can console himself by repeating over and over again that he’s not as bad as his housemates. The state only classifies this roly-poly 49-year-old as a Level 2 offender.
According to police, in 2007, Mayer, then 43, repeatedly had sex with a girl under 16 years of age, something his mother is likely very proud of.