CLEVELAND — Under current Ohio law, registered sex offenders can usually enter schools, preschools and child care centers.
A bill passed by the Ohio Senate earlier this month would make it illegal to do so.
S.B. 422 would prohibit certain sex offenders and child-victim offenders from "knowingly being present" on the premises of schools, preschools and child care centers.
It would also prohibit sex offenders from attending a ticketed school event, including athletic events and school musicals.
The bill would apply to most Tier II and Tier III sex offenders, and some Tier I sex offenders convicted of specific offenses involving children.
The legislative proposal does not completely ban sex offenders from contact with schools.
The bill allows sex offenders to be present for "legitimate purposes," including picking up or dropping off their child, attending a child's event as part of transportation arrangements and responding to emergencies involving their child.
It also allows offenders to attend parent-teacher conferences, vote at polling places located inside schools, attend certain public meetings when children are not present and attend school if the offender is legally entitled to do so.
Under the proposal, a violation of the new law would be a second-degree misdemeanor, a second offense would be a first-degree misdemeanor and a third offense would be a fifth-degree felony.
Read the bill here.
Additional loopholes
News 5 Investigators found additional loopholes in Ohio law that allow sex offenders to have access to children, including owning a business that caters to kids.
"This can be done," Ian Friedman, a criminal defense attorney, said. "It certainly can be set up to be compliant with the law in its current form."
State law also does not ban sex offenders from entering the premises of businesses that cater to kids, including ice cream shops, or from attending other public events, including concerts, according to Caitlyn Benzo, an attorney for the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence.
No criminal charges
News 5 Investigators looked into the state's sex offender laws after learning a child sex offender owned an indoor playground in Painesville and was involved with another child-centered business.
Anthony Tartt also spent time at his business, Playtime at Adventure Acres, which has since closed.
Pictures shared by a former employee show Tartt attending a father-daughter dance earlier this year.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office said Anthony Tartt Jr. will not face criminal charges related to involvement with either business.
READ MORE: No criminal charges for child sex offender who owned indoor playground
Ohio business records show Tartt formed Playtime Party and Productivity LLC last fall.
The filing lists the company's address as 176 Chestnut St. in Painesville, which is the address of Playtime at Adventure Acres.
The landlord said Tartt and his partners signed a lease for the Chestnut Street property in January.
News 5 Investigator Sarah Buduson talked to Tartt before his probation hearing in May.
When she asked Tartt why he created a child-centered business, he said, "I build businesses for a living."
State records show Tartt is the "organizer or incorporator" of five businesses, including Playtime Party and Productivity LLC.
He said he did not work as an employee at the businesses.
