City of Refuge | |
---|---|
Nickname: Miracle Village | |
Country | United States |
State | Florida |
County | Palm Beach |
Founded | 1964 |
Government | |
• Type | Operated by Matthew 25: Ministries |
• Executive Director | Ted Rodarm |
Population | |
• Estimate (2018) | 200 |
Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
Miracle Village (officially City of Refuge since 2014)[1] is a community on Muck City Road, about three miles (4.8 km) east of Pahokee, Florida, that serves as a haven for registered sex offenders. It is located within one of the most isolated and poorest parts of Palm Beach County.[2][3] The site was chosen because of its isolation given that the sex offender residence restrictions do not apply.
Photographer Charles Ommanney lived at Miracle Village for a week with the residents and tried to capture what it was like to live on the other side of America's sex offender laws.
Among the new residents were men convicted of looking at child pornography, young guys who had underage girlfriends, guys who exposed themselves in public, a guy who got caught urinating in public, and actual child molesters. Oh, and one woman sex offender. Just one.