Sex Offender Data To Expand: Texas is Fourth Best In The Nation

At least 5 million unique visitors go to the criminal history section of the Texas state's database each month, most to the sex offender portion. This year, www.toptenreviews.com, a Web site that reviews online registries, listed the Texas state agency's sex offender registry as the fourth-best in the nation.

The Texas Department of Public Safety plans to update its online sex offender registry this spring to let people know where offenders work or go to school. When the registry is revised, sex offender records will also show complete registration histories, former addresses and conviction information in Texas and out of state. People will be able to sign up for e-mail notification when a sex offender moves into their ZIP code and when that offender's information is updated or changed.

But Ruth Epstein, a spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Central Texas, said people's ability to find sex offenders in their workplaces or classrooms raises privacy concerns and could send offenders who are trying to get treatment into hiding. "What happens to a criminal who can't work because he is being harassed?" she asked. "He goes underground, and he commits more criminal activity."

What do you think of her concern?

Download revised_sex_offender_registry_coming_soon.pdf

Comments

[Isle Dance]

Let me preface this by saying: I don't think anybody has the right to lash out at/abuse/harrass sex offenders. That said, I think people have a right/need to know who the sex offenders are (but we can't assume they are all listed, because they are not). Especially if they're still under legal watch/care. A truly remorseful and rehabilitated sex offender would understand this...and not use anything as an excuse to commit more crime.

[jan Wagner]

Hi Isle Dance,

Your bog is quite beautiful.

It would be nice if we all took a few steps back in our own way and simplified and found out what is really going on inside of us.

More people might be silent enough to see the problems more clearly and act to make it better.

Jan

[Isle Dance]

Thank you so much, Jan. I can't begin to express how much I value what you do to help us all. It's amazing how much it helps me, even though I'm a grown up. Your work helps keep us safe. Thank you so much. :o)

[Ambra]

While I understand that people do have inalienable rights...we sometimes forget of all the rights that the child who fell victim to these predators no longer have. The right to grow up feeling safe and secure; the right to be a child and live in a child's world; the right to grow up feeling like they are capable of a loving, nurturing, healthy relationship; the right to have their spirit and soul intact. Somehow those rights are not talked about enough. It is a choice to violate a child's rights and all choices have consequences

[Elizabeth A.]

Yet another new and improved website showing where registered sex offenders live, work, photos, and attend school, etc. Yippee Texas! The State of Texas has some Texans bamboozled into thinking that providing this information to adults will be more beneficial than educating a child on how to spot danger on their own and go to someone they trust for help. I fully understand the reason that websites by DPS and other agencies were formed, and I certainly mean no disrespect to those families who lost their child because a child molester lived across the street, so please hear me there. Despite best intentions, The State, any state, is ill-equipped with all that is and will be needed to manage and maintain the whereabouts of hundreds if not thousands of these typically transient people over the years that follow. These websites provide a false sense of hope, safety, and security. What happens if my next door neighbor's face and vital stats show up on this new and improved offender listing? Then what? I'd imagine I'd panic. Then tell neighbor after neighbor about what I found. Then what? When do my security, hope, and sense of safety set in? As Texans, we have a lot of rich pride but staking claim to having a sex offender registry as the fourth-best in the nation just doesn't measure up to its usual bragging rights. Why don’t we stand up and demand our State Legislators make mandatory child abduction and sexual abuse prevention education in all schools. Why not talk as a family about what signs mean danger to a child in today's times. A better informed child is a safer child. I can't image a sex offender registry can provide that kind of protection. To believe otherwise would be to see as District Judge Ron Svaty from Kansas does. This judge ordered a sex offender keep large signs on his car that read, "Sex Offender In This Car." He has a similar sign on his house. The remainder of his of his punishment included house arrest and five years probation. Signs on his car and house are, at best, creative but ineffective at addressing how to keep the kids safer when encountering him and others of the same deviancy. The sentence is not the issue to me. The crime is. Child molesters often incite our rage, anger, and hatred for them. Although many people would feel this way, our feelings are not what are going to help protect our kids. I am a firm believer in education - we took the time to teach our little ones to look both ways before crossing the street, to wear a helmet when riding their bikes, walk, don’t run. So why not talk to them openly beginning when they are younger about how to stay safer from child predators. Not all predators will have a sign on their car or on their forehead for that matter. I really believe that the child that can so "NO" to sexual touch from Grandpa, an acquaintance, stranger, or a friend’s dad or mother at a sleep over or is miles ahead of the child that is NOT given that same level of permission. Step up Texas, a proud state filled with proud people. Don't rely on your zip code to keep you and your family safe. Educate, educate, educate no matter how uncomfortable it may be for you! Thank you for letting me share. I appreciate what topics you bring to our attention.

Elizabeth A.
Lubbock, Texas