A Fairfax County man who kidnapped a 13-year-old girl and sexually abused her has been released from prison and is in a halfway house just four miles from the home of the victim’s parents.
Scott Tyree lured then abused a Pittsburgh-area girl in 2002.
A judge sentenced Tyree to 19 years in prison after Tyree pleaded guilty to a pair of federal sex crimes in 2003. A U.S. Bureau of Prisons database shows Tyree’s projected release date from the halfway house is April.
Asked why Tyree was transferred to a halfway house and scheduled for full release after just 16 years in custody, the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement: “Inmate release dates include projected time for good conduct and prior credit time received for incarceration prior to a sentencing date.”
The halfway house is in Pittsburgh. The victim’s parents live four miles away in Crafton Heights.
A statement from the Bureau of Prisons indicates Tyree will live near or in Pittsburgh after his release. Though the agency declined to comment on why it placed Tyree in close proximity to the victim’s family, the Bureau of Prisons said, “Inmates are considered for placement in residential re-entry centers nearest their release residence.”
The victim, Alicia Kozakiewicz, survived the kidnapping and later became an activist who successfully lobbied for stronger state laws nationwide to prevent sex abuse of children.
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“This is just such an injustice, and at the very least, my family should have been informed," Kozakiewicz said. "This is unreal. This is something that should not ever have happened.”
Tyree held and abused Kozakiewicz at his home in Herndon. His crimes garnered national attention and triggered a national manhunt by the FBI after Kozakiewicz’s abduction.
Tyree disseminated images of the sexual abuse of Kozakiewicz online. A viewer of those images recognized Kozakiewicz from missing person posters shared by authorities and notified police.
“I’m scared to return home," Kozakiewicz said. "My home has been hijacked. I’m in fear for my family and for everybody I know.”
