Eden Prairie is now home to its third Level III sex offender since the state began assigning risk definitions 17 years ago, authorities said Friday.
Dennis J. Armstrong, 41, a convicted pedophile who formerly lived in Duluth, is living in a temporary residential treatment facility on Martin Drive in a light-industrial area that includes a gas station, an auto collision shop, a youth ballet academy and a gymnastics center for children and others.
There have been two other Level III offenders, those deemed to be at the highest risk to reoffend, who have lived in Eden Prairie since 1996, when the risk-definition system was initiated. Armstrong is the only Level III in the city now, said Eden Prairie spokeswoman Joyce Lorenz.
As of Friday, 327 Level III offenders outside of confinement reside in Minnesota, with half of them living in a handful of Minneapolis and St. Paul neighborhoods. Minneapolis is home to 133 of them — about 41 percent of the state's total. Most live on the North Side, near downtown, and on the South Side. Another 34 live in St. Paul.
Most have served their time either locked up or under supervised release and are not under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Corrections. They are free to pursue a home where they wish without restriction, even if it's near a school, playground, apartment complex or house of worship.
Armstrong was convicted in 1999 in Duluth of two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The sexual contact included assaulting children, male and female, ranging in age from 5 to 7. His victims were known to him. Armstrong was living in Duluth as recently as this spring, and at times homeless, police there said.
Eden Prairie police and state prison officials will host a required community notification meeting at 6 p.m. Dec. 30 at St. Andrew Lutheran Church, 13600 Technology Drive. The meeting also will be recorded, then shown on EPTV, Channel 16, and CITY TV. For further details, visit http://bit.ly/19CQqch.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
