Just think, Ahearn is trying hard to expand into Nassau County. Here's a good reason to reject that notion

I could almost see Laura Ahearn's masculine face cracking a smile over this disgusting act. It isn't far from certain other folks I've featured on this blog.

http://longisland.news12.com/story/35496357/sex-offenders-would-be-house-burns-down-in-merrick

Sex offender's would-be house burns down in Merrick
Posted: May 23, 2017 11:28 AM EDT
Updated: May 23, 2017 7:41 PM EDT

Sex offender's would-be house burns down in Merrick
MERRICK -

A Merrick home that was soon to be occupied by a registered Level 2 sex offender and his wife went up in flames early Tuesday morning and fire officials say it is considered suspicious. 

The fire broke out at the vacant home on Yale Road around 3:30 a.m. and left it gutted. 

Over the weekend, fliers were posted in the community alerting them about Daniel Reilly, who was supposed to move to the neighborhood. The fire marshal says they are investigating whether the house fire was linked to the sex offender's expected arrival on the block. 

Reilly was convicted in 2013 of rape after admitting to having sex with a 14-year-old student. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months in jail and 10 years of probation. 

Reilly, who lives nearby in North Merrick with his wife and young daughter, told News 12 that he could not speak on the matter. 

Developer John Miller says Reilly's wife, Ann Marie, was the sole purchaser of the home. He says he didn't realize that her husband was a registered sex offender until recently. 

Miller told News 12 that once he found out who the buyer was married to, he tried to buy her out of the contract. 

"We were offering all their money back and more," says Miller. 

More than 60 firefighters were called to extinguish the fire. The Nassau fire marshal has not yet said if an accelerant was found. Officials deemed the blaze suspicious based on the volume of the fire and the fact the home was still under construction. 

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/merrick-home-destroyed-by-fire-nassau-police-say-1.13657253

Sex offender fliers focus of Merrick house fire probe, officials say
Updated May 23, 2017 6:48 PM
By John Valenti and Michael O’Keeffe

Investigators are trying to determine if an overnight fire that destroyed a house under construction in Merrick is tied to fliers found near the scene alleging the incoming resident is a sex offender.

Those fliers, found attached to utility poles in the area, including ones directly in front of the home, claimed the incoming resident is a Level 2 sex offender whose victim was 13 years old, officials said. A Level 2 sex offender is considered a moderate risk to repeat the offense, according to the New York Department of Criminal Justice Services.

The man pictured on the fliers pleaded guilty to statutory rape in 2013 in Queens Criminal Court. Newsday is not identifying the man in the flyer because authorities could not confirm that he was the incoming resident.

Nassau County Fire Marshal’s Office Division Supervisor James Hickman said the sex offender fliers were being considered as a potential motive. He said the home did not have an active utility service, but declined to say if a preliminary investigation found evidence of any accelerants.

“Standing in front of the house,” Hickman said, “there wasn’t one place you could look where you couldn’t see one of the posters.”

Nassau County police confirmed they were aware of the fliers but did not immediately comment on the investigation by arson-bomb squad detectives.

Police said a Seventh Precinct officer, on routine patrol, spotted the blaze at the house on Yale Road, near Lindenmere Drive, and reported it at 3:33 a.m. Firefighters from Merrick, Bellmore, North Bellmore, North Merrick, Wantagh and Freeport responded to the scene to find it “fully engulfed in flames,” Merrick Fire Department spokesman Ron Luparello said.

He said that at least 60 firefighters battled the blaze for more than two hours before the scene was fully extinguished.

No one was injured.

Richard Watkins, 74, who has lived in neighborhood since 1952, said he had not seen the fliers. He said he understands why people would be upset about the possibility of a sex offender moving in but arson, if that was the case, was not justified.


“I think it is sad. It is tragic for a lot of reasons,” Watkins said. “It seems like any other solution would have been better.”

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Long-Island-Sex-Offender-Home-Fire-Raises-Questions-Arson-423916484.html

Marshals Investigate Whether Fire at Long Island Sex Offender's Home Was Intentionally Set 
By Greg Cergol

A house fire in Merrick is raising suspicions over whether it was intentionally set amid resistance to a sex offender's planned move there.

The Nassau fire marshal is investigating whether the early-morning blaze at the house in Merrick was set. A fire marshal supervisor says flyers were posted around the home as it was being built, warning the community that a convicted sex offender was planning to move in there. 

"Everyone was very on edge, scared," said neighbor Lindsay Granat. "People in the community were organizing to prevent him from moving here." 

"I have two teenaged daughters and no one wants to hear you will have a predator living on the street," said Carrie Burlock. 

The sex offender, ******, is a former New York City teacher convicted almost four years ago of having sex with a 14-year-old student. State records indicate he served six months in jail and is now on probation. 

No one answered at Reilly's North Merrick home Tuesday.

It remains unclear if he will try to rebuild in Merrick. While many neighbors hope he doesn't, several expressed outrage that someone might see setting a dangerous fire as the answer to the problem. 
"It's disgusting!" said Granat. "I mean, my house started lighting on fire, too." 


"It says there are people who live here with intolerance and insensitivity to do this, to solve a problem," said Watkins.