Anonymous wrote:I don't trust anyone when it comes to my kids so no need to seek potential threats out; everyone is a potential threat as far as I'm concerned. There way more wackos, weirdos, pervs, and predators out there than those listed on the sex offender registry.

+100000

No. I just make sure me watch my children. But now that others have said it I may if I'm moving to make sure my neighbour seems safe. Otherwise, agreed, too much bias in those listings. I know someone on it for a very minor offence that didn't involve anything sexual. But plead guilty bc it was easier than to face the unknown.

Kids are far more likely to be abused in their own homes, by family and trusted others. Sex offender registries are pointless, and potentially damaging, money sucker-uppers. They keep offenders from finding work and shelter, which ups their chances of re-offending. Their lifelong impact on offenders can scare their victims off from telling anyone they're being abused. Registries are just another way of hurting victims and giving politicians something to pat themselves on the back about.

I browse the registry for offenders in the area...just to stay alert.

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Anonymous wrote:Sex offenders are everywhere. Especially as cooks in all the popular restaurants. The ones who don't register are the ones you need to really be worried about. And, as PP said, a lot of people are never caught.

I think the registeries are pointless.

I disagree, and will make two points that refute your "pointless" comment (no pun or disrespect intended. We just disagree)

There was something "off" about a man who was renting my uncle's house, next door to my uncle, on his ranch, so I looked him up. Turns out he was a former schoolteacher whose target was little boys. My uncle had not mentioned this to my brother, who was coming to visit with his little boy (because my uncle felt it would all be safe, after all, the guy had done his time and was on probation). omg. I told my brother so he could make up his own mind.

Also, in my mom's condo where DH and I and my DD stayed, there was a guy renting below us who liked little girls our DD's age. Good to know.

Sure, there are others that will not be on the registry so we should always be vigilant as parents, but if there is some info out there that you can use for your benefit, why not use it?

Why was it good to know? How did this knowledge change your behavior? And what did your brother do?

Re the first scenario, we chose not to stay in the condo. The condo complex is also near a school, and the guy was not supposed to be living there--too close to the school. Neighbors found out (that's how we originally found out) and they had him evicted. So imo the registry helped.

In the second scenario, I don't remember now if my brother went or didn't go, (was a few years ago) because this was all obscured by this issue that our uncle was shielding this guy, and had decided to be so paternalistic toward us as to not tell us so we could make our own decisions.

I have mixed feelings re the registry. In my situations, I think it helped. We have general safety rules to protect our kids and don't need to rely on the registry, but if you know about a specific individual, you can be even more vigilant.

On the flip side, I think it could also give some people a false sense of security (although is anyone that naive these days)? And I think it's problematic for one other big reason: If you are an offender, you can look up your neighboring offenders and now you've got some like-minded friends to share your obsession with.

You can be put on the list for peeing in public. Go figure

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Anonymous wrote:put up fliers and get the neighborhood together to know that the scum bag lives nearby. Make sure he feels the pressure and knows he is under surveillance . Eventually if you make it difficult they will leave. Be vigilant these people deserve to be somewhere else and not near children or families.

I will remind you that you said that when your 18 year old son ends up on the list for having sex with his 17 year old girlfriend, that he is a scumbag who does not deserve to be near children or families.

um, that's the point of the registry, to get an understanding of what a sex offender did. PP is taking about pedophiles and rapists who get it out will do it again.

You do realize that not all registries are specific about what an offender did, right? So it would have a picture of that PP's son and the caption that he was convicted of sex with a person under 18. It won't necessarily have the age of the minor, or the age he was when he committed the crime in question. My point was that, in addition to there being many people who should be on the list who aren't, there are also people who are on that list who are absolutely no threat to my 4 year old daughter and that it is not always possible to tell the difference.

That's why police records are public information. You can get enough info from the registry to take to your local precinct to research the individual further (or call the PD in the city where the crime took place) and, if the crime was newsworthy, look up the case in the newspaper in the town where the crime was committed. As others have said, it's a resource, just like the Better Business Bureau site. Doesn't tell you enough, but it tells you something. Chances are you'd be hesitant to give your money to a poorly rated vendor. We should be a lot more judicious with our children than we are with our money.

I just looked up my NW DC address in the DC sex offender registry. Some offenders had the age of the victim listed and whether or not it was a stranger. Most, however, just had things like "rape" or "indecency" and not much else to go on other than the date of conviction and most recent confirmation of registry information. It included everyone who listed a residence or employer within half a mile of my house. There were like 30 of them, primarily older black men. Many of the convictions were from pre-2001. I did learn that there is a white man who works on my block who was convicted of having child pornography a couple years ago. He's my age.

I don't see how my daughter is safer now that I have this information. I wasn't going to let her spend time with strangers yesterday, and I'm not going to let her spend time with strangers tomorrow either.