For those with children or grandchildren.

[Mudder]

I asked Jeff before I posted this.

If you have children or grandchildren you might be surprised at how many sex offenders might be close to you. This site will allow you to type in your address and see if there is a registered offender close to you.

http://www.familywatchdog.us/

 

[ldimick]

I was the president of our city's Little League for 2 years and we were required to do background checks. It was an eye-opening experience.

I was showing a friend at work a site like this and within 11 square blocks of where he lived there were more than 203! Admittedly it was a downtown metro area, but ceratinly not a place he was going to bring his kids to come visit him when it was his weekends. He soon moved.

 

[chigdon]

It is hard to believe how many are out there. This is very scary.

 

[DWK5150]

You can also usually go to your local state police website and search as well. I know where I live there are 11 in town.

 

[Mikey]

There are 6 within 1 mile of me and one only 8 houses down IIRC. Problem with these watchdog groups is that there is often not enough clarification given to the public that distinguishes between the class of criminal. For example, the kid who is 18 and had his girlfriend at 17 can be labeled an offender. People see names on this list and automatically think of the worst. Also, the law enforcement websites even don't give enough info. They often say that this person was convisted of assault, but we don't know what he did or how bad it was.

 

[Mudder]

Originally posted by Mikey
<br />There are 6 within 1 mile of me and one only 8 houses down IIRC. Problem with these watchdog groups is that there is often not enough clarification given to the public that distinguishes between the class of criminal. For example, the kid who is 18 and had his girlfriend at 17 can be labeled an offender. People see names on this list and automatically think of the worst. Also, the law enforcement websites even don't give enough info. They often say that this person was convisted of assault, but we don't know what he did or how bad it was.

Click the square and it should bring up the offender and the offense. I would not take all of this as pure truth. Most of these are publis records so if you are really concerned you shouls investigate further. I asked Jeff for permission to post this site because it seems to have more comperhensive information than any other site I have seen.

 

[Tangboy5000]

I feel kind of bad for a couple of these guys around my house. When you click on their little box it says they were not convicted or charged with a sex crime. So why are they listed on a sex offender website? When I looked up the address of our apartment buildings on the other side of town there are a ton in the building down the street. At first I thought it must be a half-way house or something, but it's not, it is just a regular apartment complex.

 

[gerryr]

The map is a bit peculiar. When I put in my address, it shows my house being probably 6-7 miles from where it actually is.

 

[woodwish]

In Florida we have a very good web site sponsored by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that has the same information. We did have one renting a house just 2 doors away, and after digging around I found he had served a year in jail. I won't go into details but you would not want him as a neighbor after looking into the conviction. He soon moved after the neighborhood found out his background. Doesn't hurt to check into this kind of stuff, some are just trumped-up charges but many are truly perverts.

 

[Randy_]

Thanks, Mudder. Turns out the son of the family living next door to my girlfriend is on the list!! They were there when she moved in 2 years ago. Don't know much detail; but will certainly be doing some more research!!