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Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz pressing Board of Prison about release of sex offender

PITTSBURGH — Target 11 continues to investigate after finding out the man convicted in the kidnapping of a Pittsburgh teenager nearly two decades ago is about to be released four miles from her family home.

We spoke with a U.S. Congresswoman so angry over the news, she is demanding a change now. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz has close ties to the victim in this case, Alicia Kozakiewicz.

Two weeks ago, Target 11 broke the news that Scott Tyree had been transferred from a North Carolina prison to a halfway house in downtown Pittsburgh. He served 17 years in prison for kidnapping and raping 13 year old Kozakiewicz. He met her on the internet. She lives in New York now, but told Target 11 she had no idea Tyree was out of prison and so close to her parents' home in Crafton Heights.

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"To locate him in a halfway house four minutes from her home and her family's home is absolutely outrageous and unacceptable," Representative Wasserman-Schultz of Florida said. "I'm pressing to get to the bottom of the Board of Prisons, the Bureau of Prisons, criteria for relocation and also press them to move this individual."

Wasserman-Schultz met Kozakiewicz a decade ago while working to strengthen internet predator laws. Kozakiewicz has been an outspoken advocate for years. Wasserman-Schultz has sent a letter to the Bureau of Prisons asking why they released Tyree, who is from Virginia, to Pittsburgh, where he has no apparent ties.

"My deep concern here is that the perpetrator's intent is to continue to victimize the victim and her family," the representative said.

Tyree will be released from the halfway house back into society in Pittsburgh in April. We're asking to see if federal officials are considering changing that. Target 11 will keep you updated.

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