Sexual Assault Victim's Assailant Moves In Next Door

A Creek County family says they were horrified to learn who their new neighbor is.

They say the man who molested their daughter years ago just moved in next door.

State laws say sex offenders cannot live near schools or public playgrounds. But it says nothing about living right next to their victims.

This family is demanding that law be changed.

Danyelle Dyer says she no longer feels comfortable in her own home. 

"I don't like feel like I can come home," she says. "This is my safe zone and it's not really my safe zone any more."

That's because the man who molested Dyer as a child now lives next door. 

After serving his prison sentence for lewd molestation, Dyer's step-uncle Harold English moved in with his mother, Dyer's grandmother, only about 100 yards away.

"He's right there," Dyer said. "And not only does it scare me for my well being now, but it brings back a lot of things that happened in the past.

The Dyers looked into it and found out that in Oklahoma it is not illegal for sex offenders to live near their victims.

English told News On 6 he notified the sheriff's office before moving in. He and his mother both say this is only temporary.

"We've been gone every day looking for a place for him to live and get straightened up so he can have a home again," says Betty Dyer, English's mother. "I didn't want to put him out on the street. Where would he stay?"

English did not want to talk on camera, but says he's sorry, and if given the chance, he would never commit such an act again.

"He's so sorry that all happened," his mother said.

That does little for the Dyers' peace of mind.

What does help, Danyelle Dyer says, is she and her family are working with state lawmakers to change the sex-offender laws.

"That's just my hope," she says. "Is that I become a role model and a positive change for Oklahoma to help other victims of sexual assault."

Several states including Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia do have laws against sex offenders living near their victims. Oklahoma does not.