Sex Offenders

[Racoon]

Here is a link I learned about today...

Its a mapping of registered sex offenders in your town/area.

 

Just punch in your digits, and it will generate a map of the offenders near you. ;)

Sorry, US data only.

 

I learned there are 3 child offenders and 1 rapist I was unaware of within a 5-6 block radius from my residence :)

How many are in your neighborhood?

 

Personally, I think its a good idea, and a value to parents.

One possible negative might be some people being labeled an "offender" for something like pissing in public, or minor misteps that occasionally happen...

 

http://www.familywatchdog.us

[Tarantism]

cool link racoon. i would say that the sex offender mapping is probably a good thing, though sometimes i think it may throw those who are totally rehabilitated into obscurity with their neighbors.

[Tarantism]

wow...look at my area...:)

 

http://www.familywatchdog.us/ShowMap.asp

[CraigD]

Wow. What a wonderfully well-integrated web application. In a time when it’s fashionable to believe government can do nothing well, I am awed.

How many are in your neighborhood?

Rather surprisingly, only 1, my next-to-next door neighbor. I already know about him and his misdeeds, which occurred 20+ years ago, under the influence of alchohol.

Personally, I think its a good idea, and a value to parents.

One possible negative might be some people being labeled an "offender" for something like pissing in public, or minor misteps that occasionally happen...

Taking this thought a step further: some people being labeled an offender for pissing in public, then being murdered by a deranged vigilante who uses this superb database app to plan a “mission of cleansing” – that would be a negative impact.

 

On a more whimsical note, imagine the “fun” that could be had hacking the site and branding that annoying neighbor who likes to run his gas weed wacker at 7 AM Saturday a multiple child-raper! Or, doing the same to candidates for state and local political office. Placing a whole coven of incestuous perverts at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, DC would be too obvious to merit much hackerly respect, but would likely make the national news.

 

As a proponent of openness, I strongly approve of and support information resources of this kind (and adequate security to prevent the “fun” I describe), and more – I’d like to see all information about everyone publicly available, via an easy-to-use interface.

 

Given that I’ve had many times more trouble from thieves than from sex offenders, what I’d really like is a map of all the accused and convicted property criminals in my neighborhood, so I can know where to go to get my stolen stuff back – or, better yet, a realtime image of where they are right now, so I can keep an eye on them before they steal any of my stuff. Luckily (since there’s little practical way to know about it in advance), my neighborhood for the past decade is more thief-free than any I’ve lived in before, but who knows what tomorrow may bring?

[Celeste]

I've watched the Watchdog for a few years now. Great idea posting it Racoon!! Never can be too careful.

 

For me: 176 offenders found now!! :) And to think that I live in a real heavy population of Mormons in Sandy, Utah!!

[InfiniteNow]

I've heard that eHarmony.com will soon surpass this site in their listing of sex offenders by zip code if they have not done so already. :esmoking:

[HydrogenBond]

The problem with listing sex offenders is connected to the definition. Most people picture a man with a trench coat luring children with candy and then raping and killing them. This is one part of the definition. If a male was 18 and his fiance 16, in some states the male would be considered a sex offender, since his fiance is not legal. In some states getting caught performing oral sex on one's married partner would make one a sex offender. Anal sex is also illegal in many states making all gay men sex offenders in those states. The term should be restricted to just those who prey on others.

[Spiked Blood]

Taking this thought a step further: some people being labeled an offender for pissing in public, then being murdered by a deranged vigilante who uses this superb database app to plan a “mission of cleansing” – that would be a negative impact.

 

On a more whimsical note, imagine the “fun” that could be had hacking the site and branding that annoying neighbor who likes to run his gas weed wacker at 7 AM Saturday a multiple child-raper! Or, doing the same to candidates for state and local political office. Placing a whole coven of incestuous perverts at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, DC would be too obvious to merit much hackerly respect, but would likely make the national news.

 

Holy crap, that's kind of scary, no?

[C1ay]

I must say that the application is impressive but their data is not. A search of their system shows only 1 offender in my zip code compared to the 20 listed by my state government's sex offender registry. I commend their effort but urge people to check all of the sources they can find for their area. Start by googling "your_area sex offender registry". Most states have a state registry availble to the public and maintained by the authorities responsible for tracking these predators.

[TheFaithfulStone]

The problem with listing sex offenders is connected to the definition. Most people picture a man with a trench coat luring children with candy and then raping and killing them. This is one part of the definition. If a male was 18 and his fiance 16, in some states the male would be considered a sex offender, since his fiance is not legal. In some states getting caught performing oral sex on one's married partner would make one a sex offender. Anal sex is also illegal in many states making all gay men sex offenders in those states. The term should be restricted to just those who prey on others.

 

Good point. I have heard, although I cannot find the source, that most "sexual contact with a minor" charges (which is a less serious offense than statutory rape) are actually generally filed either against other minors, or people who are very nearly minors themselves.

 

I did find this, which indicates that 60% of women age 17 and younger who became pregnant did so with fathers under the age of 19.

 

linky, linky

 

Even though that particular report concentrates on the remaining 40%, it would be interesting to know how many of those where over 21, 22, 35, 50? I suspect the age progression downward to be rather steep.

 

In other words, people who have "sexual contact with a minor" which sounds REALLY, REALLY heinous are not nearly as dangerous as they might seem.

 

It seems to me that the solution to this little problem is to rename the offense. Or to establish the severity of the offense by the difference of age. My state certainly does not have the "less than four years difference" out for statutory. If the girl is under 15, and you're 16, you're in trouble.

 

Perhaps sexual offense (which are all about power) should be more classified by this dimension than the age of the respective offenders. Thus the abusive teacher or parent who is 35 and tricking the 17 year old into sleeping with him,is considered more dangerous than the 19 year old who is.

 

TFS

[HydrogenBond]

On one of the AM radio talk shows they spoke about one state law, where sex offenders could not live within 1000 feet of a school bus stop. This sounds good in theory. The down side is that if someone wants to drive someone out of their home, (victimless sex offender), they merely place a bus stop near their house and they are require, by the law, to move.