<p>I think that one can search for sexual offenders by zip code in many states. I know that one can do that in mine, which is how I learned that one now lives a block away. His record that includes forcible rape also is on-line. </p>
<p>Anyone who wants to search should try Googling something like “sexual offenders” and the name of your state.</p>
<p>I know you can search in California and I have…I also informed my friends who have small children as one of the listings I found was near an elementary school. I have a similar issue in my neighborhood. We have a house in our neighborhood where the father has a medical marijuana license but we are fairly certain he resells to high school kids. The mother died last week of a drug overdose. I see cars there all the time of kids whose parents I know. Cars of 16 year old boys and girls. What to do…if I call the parents half the time they act like I don’t know what I’m talking about. I can’t do something that will infringe of the people who live in the house without getting into legal trouble or fear or retaliation. What I have done is talk to lots of parents in a general way and told them that I have spoken to the police about the house and that the police are aware of a problem. They are watching the house. They told us to write down license plate numbers. I am trying to get the word out that if your kid is hanging out there eventually they are going to have a run in with the police…sigh.</p>
<p>ebee-
Sounds like you’ve done all you can do. Alerting the police is probably it. They could send in an undercover young cop who looks like a HS’er to buy and bust him, but I guess that’s up to them. Sigh… </p>
<p>The John Mark Carr housing stuff is still in the news here. On last night’s nightly news they gave the website info to access the sex offender registry here. It seems to be a national thing. They did say John Mark Car was sited in Alabama (yey for us, sorry for you, Alabama) but also commented that they looked in the sex offender registry and found 5 others who lived within a few miles of that neighborhood and big public park. So, I guess you really never know who your neighbors are. Caveat emptor. Swell…</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the registry doesn’t just have pedophiles: It also has people who commited crimes like forcible rape on adult women. It’s a good idea for everyone to check the registry now and then and to be careful whether or not offenders are reported in your area.</p>
<p>Noticing that a man who served time for forcible rape is now residing a block from my home let me know how stupid I have been to have been going on strolls around my neighborhood well after dark. Whether or not he continues to live there, my behavior wasn’t very smart.</p>
<p>NSM-
Did you just look at the website and realize this guy lived near you, or have you known it for a while? Scary. This almost feels like a public service announcement to be aware of our surroundings- thanks for sharing your suggestions.</p>
<p>I’ve checked the website in the past as well and the sad truth is that there are many of these weirdos living among us. Luckily they’re not on my street or adjacent ones but there are plenty within a couple of miles. There seems to be a tendency for many of those on this list to live in the lower income areas - I’m guessing because they have difficulty getting good jobs after having been convicted with these kinds of charges. </p>
<p>Do what you can to crack down on these people and increase the penalties. My starting point would be life with no parole and get harsher from there.</p>
<p>I heard on the news today that Texas has informed its pedophiles that they cannot decorate, have lights on, give out candy, or answer the doorbell to kids on Halloween.</p>
<p>doubleplay-
when I was a kid, the houses that had their lights off and no decorations got egged! Is this Texas justice? I love it :)</p>
<p>“NSM-
Did you just look at the website and realize this guy lived near you, or have you known it for a while? Scary. This almost feels like a public service announcement to be aware of our surroundings- thanks for sharing your suggestions.”</p>
<p>When my kids were younger (youngest is now 18 and a h.s. graduate), I used to check the Internet every few months to see if sexual offenders lived near us. When my younger S was in middle school, I learned that an offender lived down the street from the place where my S took acting classes. It was about a mile from my house and I had been allowing S to walk there.</p>
<p>After they got older, I stopped checking, though a couple of years ago, I learned through the neighborhood association that a sexual offender had moved into our neighborhood. The president of the association – a very thoughtful lawyer and mom – paid a visit to that house and talked with the woman whom he was living with. She said that she hadn’t known he was a sex offender, and shortly after, he moved elsehwere. </p>
<p>Earlier last week, the former president, now the head of our neighborhood crime watch program and one of my friends, mentioned to me that an offender lived a block away and since I was going to be walking the neighborhood doing some elections-related volunteering, I should let people know about him.</p>
<p>I looked it up on the Net and printed out the info so people could read. At one house, the people told me that they regularly check the Internet site and had installed a security system after the saw that an offender lived literally close enough for them to see his house from their front door. They also provided me with info from the Internet about his full record, which is how I learned that he had served time for the forcible rape of a resisting person who was over age 12. He also had prior convictions for non sexual crimes.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the current neighborhood association prez ran into me and told me that the association had decided not to tell people about him because they had learned that he was moving out of state in a couple of weeks. She also said that her S had gone to h.s. with the man (who is about age 30), and her son had heard that the man had pled guilty even though he didn’t do the crime. She expressed concern that the man might commit suicide if he learned that neighbors were talking about his record, and she feared that we might be sued.</p>
<p>Anyway, I told her that I thought that the neighborhood needed to know especially with Halloween coming up. I also said that since many women in the neighborhood (including me) walk and jog alone after dark, the neighbors needed to know about this situation because it’s a wake-up call about the necessity of not taking risks even if one thinks one’s neighborhood is safe.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I’m surprised at her naivete. After all, most people in prison claim that they are innocent. Also, if the man truly plans to leave the state shortly, that doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t commit crimes now. Indeed, for some criminals, shortly before a move could be the perfect time to commit crimes because they may assume that they’d leave before they could be caught.</p>
<p>And CC readers: Please check those websites – for yourself as well as your kids. Remember that sexual offenders can be people who prey on adults. They aren’t just pedophiles.</p>
<p>I’m not claiming that there’s no danger from a sex offender living next door, but I do think that people have a false sense of security when the registry says there ISN’T one.</p>
<p>For the most part, who molests little kids? Family members, babysitters, and (this is a really strong pattern) mom’s husband/boyfriend. And how do little kids die? In car accidents. CC parents may be exceptions, but it’s a good bet that some of those parents harassing JMC probably let the kids ride unbuckled now and then and let Cousin Frank take them camping without a second thought. If we took 1% of the fear and defensive behavior we have about registered sex offenders and applied to the realistic threats, kids would be a lot safer.</p>