Web site allows tracking sex offenders

By Patricia Morrison, News Editor

January 24, 2006 11:06 am

— Sexual predators can look like the person next door. That’s one of the reasons the Indiana Sheriff’s Sex Offender Registry has been placed on a state-of-the-art Web site.
Daviess County Chief Deputy Steve Cox said Monday the new Web site will allow local residents access to information about where convicted sex offenders live and work in the community.
The Web site includes a mapping tool that allows viewers to locate sex offenders living near schools, child care centers and parks. The registry may also be searched by city, county or ZIP code. The site maps the offender and returns a profile including a recent photograph, home and work address and conviction.
“There’s going to be some flaws in the system,” Cox said. Monday, some Daviess County sex offenders were not showing up as registered.
The Web site is updated weekly, according to Jail Commander Jerry Maddox, who adds Daviess County information to the state-wide database. There were some problems when the new jail opened with a new computer system, but Maddox said things are now up and running, and he expects all the updated material to appear on the Web site.
“Those that show up as not registered, we send a letter to and they have seven days to register,” he said.
He also pointed out that some offenders show up as not registered when they are actually in jail.
“If they’re in jail, they have no address,” Maddox said. He’s hoping the system will somehow note the persons that are incarcerated.
Cox said one new option offers users a chance to pre-register for e-mail notification when registered sex offenders move near them.
The following sex and violent offenders are required to register with the sheriff’s department in the county where the offender intends to live, work or study:
• A sex and violent offender who spends or intends to spend at least seven days (including part of a day) in Indiana during a 180 day period or an offender who owns real property in Indiana and returns to Indiana at any time.
• A sex and violent offender who works or carries on a vocation or intends to work or carry on a vocation in Indiana either full-time or part-time for more than 14 days in a row during any calendar year.
• A sex and violent offender who works or carries on a vocation or intends to work or carry on a vocation in Indiana either full-time or part-time for a total of more than 30 days whether or not they are in a row during any calendar year.
• A sex and violent offender who is enrolled or intends to be enrolled on a full-time or part-time basis in any public or private educational institution in Indiana.
• A child who is at least 14 years of age and has been adjudicated as a delinquent child for an act that would require registration if committed by an adult and is found by a court to be likely to repeat an act that would require registration if committed by an adult.
Cox said he has a list of names of those that have failed to register, and deputies will be visiting them. There are approximately 20 named sex offenders in the county.
The duty to register expires 10 years after the date the offender is released from jail or a secure juvenile detention facility or is placed in a community transition program, a community corrections program, on parole or on probation, whichever occurred last.
But, for certain offenses, the offenders is required to register for life. They include:
• A sex and violent offense committed when the offender was 18 years of age or older against a victim who was less than 12 years old at the time of the crime.
• A sex and violent offense in which the offender caused serious bodily injury or death to the victim; used force or the threat of force against the victim or a member of the victim’s family; or rendered the victim unconscious or otherwise incapable of giving voluntary consent.
• Convicted of two or more unrelated sex and violent offenses.
Cox said some prosecutors have already charged those in their county that have failed to register. Under state statute, a sex or violent offender who knowingly or intentionally fails to register commits a Class D felony. The offense is a Class C felony if the individual has a prior offense for failure to register.
“Protecting families in Daviess County is a top priority for this administration,” Cox said.
“This registry is an effective tool to enhance public safety and allow residents to stay informed. We’re proud to be involved in this partnership and to be working with state officials to keep the community safe.”
Maintained by the Indiana Sheriffs’ Association, the Indiana Sheriffs’ Sex Offender Registry is a joint project involving Gov. Mitch Daniels, the state Department of Correction, Attorney General Steve Carter, the state police and the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.
The new portal also links with the National Sex Offender Public Registry, coordinated by the U.S. Department of Justice.

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