The Criminal Minds episode “Pariahville” takes place in a town populated by sex offenders. Such a town exists in the United States. A prison aftercare organization called Matthew 25 Ministries founded such a community two miles from the town of Pahokee, Florida, and called it Miracle Park. Some refer to it as Miracle Village. Matthew 25 Ministries provides a place for registered sex offenders to live — registration laws are strict regarding where the offenders are allowed to reside.
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Matthew 25 Ministries, which is led by pastor Dick Witherow, claims on its website that it does not minister to pedophiles, “though some of the residents have been convicted of molesting minors and/or possession of child pornography.” According to First Coast News “more than half of the 300 plus residents there today are sex offenders. But families live here too, including some children, and workers from the sugar cane fields. The village is at capacity, and has proven a magnet for other sex offenders around the state. Today, Pahokee is home to more sex offenders per capita than almost place in Florida – about 10 times the rate in Jacksonville.”
