Group Homes

I have not written about group homes, but know we monitor calls for service at these closely.  80% are well run and 20% are not.  I have a couple of group homes in my neighborhood and they fit in the 20% category. They are poorly managed in many aspects.  The properties are not maintained.  One has brush piles and other junk in the yard.  The other desperately needs paint and the manager needs to be more considerate of his neighbors in yard care and general exterior cleanliness.  The tenants at the second one I mentioned also frequently disturb the neighbors.  Not too long ago a tenant stabbed a care taker in the head with a pair of scissors.  There are more stories that I won't go into now.  Here is a DNT article posted tonight that makes me believe their needs to be more oversight given the growing number of group homes in our neighborhoods......

6-9, 300-pound Pine City man charged with sexually assaulting two group-home staffers

Chad Phillip Johansen, 36, who was on supervised release from Ramsey County, was charged today with seven felonies for allegedly sexually assaulting two staff members in the Pine City group home he was staying at under court order.
By: News Tribune staff, Duluth News Tribune

A Pine City man on supervised release from Ramsey County was charged today with seven felonies for allegedly sexually assaulting two staff members in the Pine City group home he was staying at under court order.
Chad Phillip Johansen, 36, is charged with one count of kidnapping, two counts of attempted first-degree sexual conduct and four counts of second-degree sexual conduct.

According to court documents, Tuesday night Johansen put zip ties on his bed and took the purse of a female staff member and dumped it onto the floor in the hallway near his room. When the woman noticed her purse on the floor she called Johansen over to ask him why it was there.

Johansen, who stands 6 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 300 pounds, grabbed her arm and dragged her into his bedroom where he began sexually assaulting her, trying to put the zip ties on her wrists.

When a second female staff member tried to intervene, Johansen grabbed the second female by the neck and held her between his legs like a scissor. As he sexually assaulted both victims they screamed at Johansen that he was going to go to prison, to which he stated, “I don’t really care.”

When one of the victims screamed something about “Jesus,” Johansen stopped, calmed down, and went into the living room. The victims called 911, and deputies arrested Johansen in the living room without incident.

The victims received treatment for their injuries at a local hospital and were released