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Hernando Today

Brother: Sex Offender Sign Is Revenge Tactic

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By KYLE MARTIN

Published: May 22, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Bill Wyatt isn't running for office, despite at least one person's misconception.

Sure, his face and name are blown up on a sign displayed around town on the back of a pickup truck. But it's his sex offender profile, not a political resume.

The pickup belongs to his brother, Steve Wyatt, who mounted the twin signs on his truck last week. Steve Wyatt says it's his way of making the community aware of sex offenders.

But Wyatt sees it as a revenge tactic after a falling out between the two brothers.

"He's singling me out, it's pure and simple," Wyatt said.

Wyatt is candid about how he came to be labeled by the state of Delaware as a sexual offender.

Thirteen years ago, two teenage girls were living with him and his wife at the time. The girls told authorities Wyatt had sex with them as revenge for his refusal to let their boyfriends come over.

They recanted their story 24 hours later, Wyatt said, but it was too late. He agreed to a plea bargain and served two and a half years of probation.

In 2006, Wyatt came to live with his brother, Steve, and his family in Brooksville.

At the end of last month, the two had a argument involving Steve Wyatt's 19-year-old daughter. Wyatt was kicked out of the house as a result.

Since then, Steve Wyatt has begun passing out fliers in the Taft Street neighborhood where his brother lives. Two giant signs bearing an exact replica of Wyatt's status with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement were mounted on the back of his brother's pickup.

That pickup has been all over Brooksville and the surrounding area. Wyatt has a temporary restraining order to keep his brother away.

"It's very embarrassing," he said.

Wyatt has no qualms over notifying the public of sex offenders and encourages the practice. But this type of behavior is extreme, he said.

If Steve Wyatt truly wanted to raise awareness about sex offenders, he would have displayed more serious sexual predators and known child molesters, Wyatt said.

"He should have concentrated on the most threatening," he said.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com.

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