Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Sex Offenders in My Area - How Can I Find Out?

Do you ponder: 'Are there any sex offenders in my area?' and do nothing? If you do, this article is for you. One of the greatest harm that can be perpetrated against young children is sex crimes. Often, such heinous deeds leave deep and permanent psychological scars to their psyche for the rest of their lives.

In recent years, we have heard of many cases of molestation of young children being reported in newspapers. Some are perpetrated by the very people known to the children, fatherly figures if you will. These are the people who are sometimes entrusted to protect our children. The Vatican is currently embroiled in controversy involving priests who sexually abused young children for years; many cases are now coming to light, not only here in US but also elsewhere in the world.

At the other end of the spectrum, there were young children who were forcibly abducted, sexually abused and confined against their will by complete strangers. A widely reported case was that of an 11 year old girl who was abducted while waiting for her school bus in 1991, by a couple in South Lake Tahoe. She was confined in the basement of his home, repeatedly raped over the years and giving birth 2 children fathered by him. She was finally rescued after 18 years of imprisonment.

In between these extremes, there must be countless cases that went unreported out of ignorance and shame.

These are not pleasant things to talk about but we must confront them head-on nevertheless. Are your young children facing some kind of danger outside your home? Are they in contact with potential sex offenders or pedophiles? Do you ponder "Are there any sex offenders in my area?" and do nothing further? What can you do to minimize such danger?

One of the best preventive measures I know is to have online access to a database of known sex offender records. Back in 1996, a law was passed requiring the various states to have registries that carried comprehensive background records of convicted rapists or child molesters. For a while, these were effective. Then the repeat offenders were at it again, creating a huge public outcry. One of the problems was that these repeat sex offenders were always on the move, even crossing state boundaries to avoid detection and social stigma.

To overcome this deficiency, another law was promulgated in 2008, where it is now mandatory for sex offenders to register themselves on the list of potential sex offenders. Further, they are now required to update their latest information every 3 months. Not registering or updating the information is deemed a criminal act punishable by jail sentence and/or fine. The information includes real name, aliases, date of birth, address, latest photograph, place of employment etc.

If you have the nagging worry 'Are there sex offenders in my area?', you can now access such information with ease. Simply insert your zip code and you will have the information in your hands in a matter of seconds.

Related : Buy Best Price Buy Cheap Buy Best Price Industrial Engineering How to? The Appliances

No comments: