(05/10/06) MANALAPAN ? Residents in a Manalapan community are breathing a collective sigh of relief over a convicted sex offender?s decision to move out of the area.

Lawrence Cohen attracted attention after he was released from prison and moved into his parent?s home. Manalapan has an ordinance in effect that bars sex offenders from living near locations where children gather. Since Cohen?s parents lived near a library, the police told him he had to move. Cohen originally threatened to fight the ordinance, but later relented and moved.

Although Manalapan residents are happy about the move, people living in Cohen?s new home of Asbury Park are frightened. Asbury Park does not have sex offender residency restrictions. The absence of such laws has allowed Cohen to move in across the street from a children?s playground.

Related information: Convicted sex offender moves into Manalapan neighborhood National Sex Offender Registry