Being Aware of Sex Offenders As Summer Break Approaches
Crimes against children can happen in any neighborhood. That’s why authorities warn parents to stay vigilant through out the summer months.
“These are things that people really need to know,” says Sheriff Derrick Cunningham of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department.
He’s talking about registered sex offenders. You may not know it, but there could be one living near you. That’s something the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office wants parents to be aware of.
“When you start talking about people making a plan, not only for the summer months you know-we talk about this year round because this is something when you got people going door to door, or your kids are out walking from your house to a friends house,” says Cunningham.
One way that anyone can learn, just how many sex offenders are in their area and how far away they are, is by visiting “Offender Watch,” a website used by most sheriff’s department’s statewide.
“It’s not just used to register but we also use it on the back end that if there’s another crime involving a child-where there’s a potential sex offender involved, we can go in and research and we can search any data that we put in there,” Lt. Leigh Persky of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department.
Law enforcement officials say it’s not just about who’s living next door to you but who you’re leaving your children with when you’re not at home.
“You need to know their parents, you need to know everything about where your kids are going to visit because it may not be a sex offender, it may be somebody that is charged with another crime that is just as bad,” says Cunningham.
Officials say while the site does give the public better insight, it doesn’t calm everyone’s concerns.
“We get a lot of telephone calls because a lot of people’s search the website and we get a lot of phone calls that we do follow up on,” says Cunningham.
Law enforcement officials say it is a felony to harass a sex offender and it is also a felony to harbor a sex offender. While it is up to convicted sex offenders to register, law enforcement officials say they do go after those that do not.
Officials also say that if someone fails to register as a sex offender, that is a Class C felony, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and fines up to $15,000.
