Map Sex Offenders In Your Town
Nov 4, 2005 6:24 pm US/Eastern
Joe Shortsleeve
Reporting
(CBS4) It's a scary fact: there are thousands of convicted sex offenders in Massachusetts. Chances are, some of them are living in your community. A new website can help you find out where they live.In Waltham, we found three sex offenders who lived within about a mile of the Bright Elementary School. One parent says, ''It's really bad, I think it's not safe." A woman with a niece and nephew at the school worries, saying, "It's scary, it's unnerving, we have children at the playground all the time."We went onto MapSexOffenders.com and found out that convicted sex offender Richard O'Dell lives about a half mile from the school. He was convicted of multiple sexual abuse charges, including rape of a child with force. Mark Olsen and his brother created the web site as a way of merging information from sex offender registries, like the one in Massachusetts, with the state of the art mapping technology. Olsen says, "We need to get the word out. The sex offenses are happening, and that kids are going missing, and you are wondering, is it because of a sex offender living nearby, is that why they are gone?"Level 3 sex offenders are considered a high risk group to re-offend. That's why their names are made public. Parents like the idea of an easy to use mapping site. One mother says, "It's awesome, it's awesome, I just wish we had it years ago." A local grandmother adds, "Children have rights, they have rights to be safe."Suzin Bartley of the Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund took a look at the site for us. She cautions that most pedophiles are family members, or trusted adults like the Father Geoghan case. She says, "It's really critical that parents understand that pedophiles, those that would hurt children, not all of them have been convicted of that crime, so therefore they would not appear on a sex offender registry." But the web site developers say parents appreciate easy access to any information. Olsen tell us that, "We had a guy in a particular state pull up information and found that his daughter was playing with the child of a sex offender, who, you know, he didn't know anything about."Experts don't want parents or guardians to get a false sense of security just because they know where a sex offender lives. As Suzin Bartley told us, pedophiles have cars and often work in a different town. She says educating your child is the best defense. You can contact the Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund at 888-775-4KIDS.
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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writeClipImg("Mapping Sex Offenders Before Kids Trick or Treat", "local_story_301120630.html ", "saveit");
Mapping Sex Offenders Before Kids Trick or Treat
Related Links
Mapsexoffenders.com
Children's Trust Fund: Keep Your Child Safe
Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry
New Hampshire Sex Offender Registry
Joe Shortsleeve
Reporting
(CBS4) It's a scary fact: there are thousands of convicted sex offenders in Massachusetts. Chances are, some of them are living in your community. A new website can help you find out where they live.In Waltham, we found three sex offenders who lived within about a mile of the Bright Elementary School. One parent says, ''It's really bad, I think it's not safe." A woman with a niece and nephew at the school worries, saying, "It's scary, it's unnerving, we have children at the playground all the time."We went onto MapSexOffenders.com and found out that convicted sex offender Richard O'Dell lives about a half mile from the school. He was convicted of multiple sexual abuse charges, including rape of a child with force. Mark Olsen and his brother created the web site as a way of merging information from sex offender registries, like the one in Massachusetts, with the state of the art mapping technology. Olsen says, "We need to get the word out. The sex offenses are happening, and that kids are going missing, and you are wondering, is it because of a sex offender living nearby, is that why they are gone?"Level 3 sex offenders are considered a high risk group to re-offend. That's why their names are made public. Parents like the idea of an easy to use mapping site. One mother says, "It's awesome, it's awesome, I just wish we had it years ago." A local grandmother adds, "Children have rights, they have rights to be safe."Suzin Bartley of the Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund took a look at the site for us. She cautions that most pedophiles are family members, or trusted adults like the Father Geoghan case. She says, "It's really critical that parents understand that pedophiles, those that would hurt children, not all of them have been convicted of that crime, so therefore they would not appear on a sex offender registry." But the web site developers say parents appreciate easy access to any information. Olsen tell us that, "We had a guy in a particular state pull up information and found that his daughter was playing with the child of a sex offender, who, you know, he didn't know anything about."Experts don't want parents or guardians to get a false sense of security just because they know where a sex offender lives. As Suzin Bartley told us, pedophiles have cars and often work in a different town. She says educating your child is the best defense. You can contact the Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund at 888-775-4KIDS.
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Related Stories
writeClipImg("Mapping Sex Offenders Before Kids Trick or Treat", "local_story_301120630.html ", "saveit");
Mapping Sex Offenders Before Kids Trick or Treat
Related Links
Mapsexoffenders.com
Children's Trust Fund: Keep Your Child Safe
Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry
New Hampshire Sex Offender Registry
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