Convicted Molester Living Legally Above Children’s Museum

ATLANTA — Some residents of a downtown Atlanta condo complex are upset that a convicted child molester is living in their building, right above a children’s museum. According to Georgia law, it is legal.

Channel 2’s Richard Elliot looked through court and jail records and learned 46-year old William Ausbrook is living with a relative inside the Museum Tower building on Centennial Olympic Park Drive. The building is also home to the Children’s Museum, and is directly across the street from a playground and the World of Coke.

Under Georgia law, anyone who committed a sex crime after June 4, 2003 is restricted as to where they can live. The law states that they cannot live within 1,000 feet of places like schools and playgrounds, anywhere that’s a gathering place for children. But the same law states that anyone who committed a sex crime before that date does not have the same restrictions and can legally live almost anywhere.

Fulton County records show Ausbrook committed the crime on May 30, 2003, just five days before that legal deadline. Originally charged with child molestation, aggravated child molestation and aggravated sodomy, he pleaded guilty to the child molestation charge and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was released after seven.

Ausbrook is also charged with stealing a laptop from a resident of that building in March 2011. He was released on a $7,500 signature bond in April. The resident, who wished to remain anonymous, told Elliot that he learned about Ausbrook’s past after the theft.

“Everybody I’ve spoken to is pretty upset with it,” he said. He also said that since Ausbrook appears to be legally living in the building, there isn’t much residents can do about it.

Ausbrook is registered as a sex offender with the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, and a representative there said he appears to be in compliance with state law.

A representative for the Children’s Museum told Elliot that they did not know Ausbrook lived in the building. She also stressed that they are always hyper-vigilant about security.

“Our first priority is always the safety of our museum visitors, and our goal is to be the safest place for children.” She stated they have multiple layers of security to make sure no one can come inside who does not belong there.