Cranston mom concerned for neighborhood safety after sex offender spies on her with drone

CRANSTON, R.I. (WLNE) — Stephanie Merola feels like a prisoner in her own home.

“It is the worst feeling in the world to not even feel safe in your own home, to have a long day of work and you have to struggle to take a shower, like that’s a normal daily routine and it’s a challenge to do it amongst other things,” Merola explained.

Merola has been living in her home with her four-year-old daughter on Midland Drive in Cranston for three decades. She purchased it from her father when she was 23-years-old.

“In today’s economy, with the housing market, how do you just up and leave everything you know, how would I get approved to get a house again, how would I afford a down payment and even If I couldn’t get a house, how would I afford rent?” Merola continued.

Convicted sex offender Christopher Jones lives two houses down from Merola, his house basically sits in her backyard.

Jones is accused of flying a drone outside of Merola’s bathroom window while she was getting ready to shower.

“I went into this room and this window was open so I could hear a buzzing outside and as you can see I have a pool, I thought something was wrong with the pool, which prompted me to go outside and check on it, and as soon as I went outside I saw the drone outside of my bathroom window, floating, watching me,” Merola recalled.

Merola said her privacy was shattered in a matter of seconds, and Jones, who is charged with video voyeurism, still lives just across the way.

Jones is a convicted sex offender but his requirement to register as one ended in 2015.

According to Cranston Police, since his offense was in 1996 before leveling began in 1999, he was never ranked from low to high-risk and was never required to be on the state’s sex offender registry website. Being on the state’s sex offender registry website is now required for moderate to high-risk sex offenders.

“Once a sex offender, you should always be a sex offender — it’s not like you’re an alcoholic or addicted to drugs, it’s something in your DNA, it’s not just going to get away. I think these people should be secluded but they should also get some help,” Merola said.

Merola told ABC 6 News that she had no idea a sex offender was living nearby and that’s why she’s speaking up, so parents can be aware of who exactly is living in their neighborhoods and can work to keep their families safe.

“I want to make sure these kids are safe, this neighborhood is full of little girls,” Merola explained. “I believe if you are a sex offender, you should not be able to register one of those drones,” she continued

ABC 6 News reached out to the Attorney General’s office for more information on sex offenders who were not leveled or ever put on the sex offender registry and are waiting to hear back.