MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) – A Manchester man is accused of throwing a burning scarecrow on the front steps of an apartment house in the city as a crowd of neighbors taunted the registered sex offender who lives there.
Police say it happened early Saturday, outside the apartment of Gloria Huot, 39. Witnesses say about 15 people gathered shortly after 1 a.m. and began shouting “molester.” Neighbors say Huot shouldn’t be allowed to live in area where many children live.
Barbara Smith, who shares an apartment with Huot, said one person lit a handmade scarecrow and threw it on the wooden porch steps. The man later pulled the burning scarecrow off the steps and stomped it.
Neighbor Paul Hafford is charged.
Huot was not home at the time. She was convicted of sexual assault in 1997, served seven years in prison and has completed parole and sexual offender programs.
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