The location-based game has a “Pokestop” at the outdoor sign for Sunny Acres, a 72-acre ranch in San Luis Obispo that includes a sober-living facility where 35 people live, KSBY-TV reported Tuesday.
“We have some criminals, we have some alcoholics, we have drug addicts, we have mentally ill, there are some sex offenders, yes,” Sunny Acres founder Dan De Vaul told the station.
An Associated Press call seeking comment from De Vaul was not immediately returned Wednesday.
But De Vaul, 72, told the Los Angeles Times that he was upset.“I have no idea what Pokemon is,” he said. “I have no idea who put the stop – if it was sabotage – because we don’t want kids showing up here.”
If children visit the property, some sex offenders living there might be placed at risk of being sent back to prison for violating conditions of their probation or parole, De Vaul said.
A similar situation is reported in Phoenix, Arizona.
One of the beacons used in the game is the New Windsor Hotel. It’s on the list of historic places which is why it may be on the Pokemon Go app. But when you search Arizona’s DPS Sex Offender Registry, you’ll see 546 W Adams Street is home to 43 registered sex offenders.
No word on whether anyone has been harmed by a registered sex offender after being led astray, though people have reportedly been robbed, stabbed, and injured while they were engrossed in the game.
A man in Georgia reported that he was sexually assaulted while he was playing Pokemon.
And players have already reported wiping out in a variety of ways as they wander the real world — eyes glued to their smartphone screens — in search of digital monsters. Twisted ankles, mishaps with revolving doors and walking into trees have been among the painful results.
The game has also induced people to post pictures of themselves on social media chasing creatures in all sorts of dangerous situations, like while driving.
Be careful. The world can be a dangerous place if you’re not paying attention.