SIGN THE PETITION and let's back Alicia in asking the Federal Government and Bureau of Prisons to relocate her offender. The offender has NO TIES to Pittsburgh.

Please use #isupportaliciak on social media!

PITTSBURGH - Alicia Kozakiewicz has filed a motion in federal court asking a judge to step in and relocate the man convicted of kidnapping her.



At age 13, Kozakiewicz was taken by 38-year-old Scott Tyree, a man she had met online and who pretended to be a 13 year old boy. Tyree held her captive in his Virginia home, raping and torturing her.



Target 11 EXCLUSIVE: big developments in case of convicted sex offender who held 13 year old captive 2 decades ago and was released to halfway house less than 4 miles from the victim's family home in Pgh. The victim now asking a federal judge to step in. Details at 545 #wpxi



— Rick Earle (@WPXIRickEarle) March 15, 2019



After serving time in prison, Tyree was released and placed in a halfway house in Pittsburgh, just four miles from the Kozakiewicz family home.



Kozakiewicz and her family learned of Tyree's release after they were contacted by Channel 11's Rick Earle. The Bureau of Prisons said it sent an email, but the family never received it.



While the U.S. Attorneys Office defended the relocation, saying inmates are released in the jurisdiction where they were prosecuted, Kozakiewicz attorney Emily Town believes there should be exceptions, especially for defendants like Tyree who have no ties to Pittsburgh.



At the age of 14, Kozakiewicz began sharing her story and is a motivational speaker, child safety adovcate, and Internet safety expert.

ALICIA'S WORDS:

I need your support! It sickens me to share this and infuriates me that it's become necessary. Over the last month or so, I have been reminded of that fact that offenders have far more rights than victims.

The offender being released with no warning to my parents' neighborhood, where he has no connections, has taken this from being a past trauma to now becoming a current victim.

People often use the term "re-victimize," and while I understand the sentiment, it tones down the true meaning of what happens over and over again to survivors. This is a NEW victimization. My family and I are once again being victimized and terrorized.