Mapping Sex Offenders

Natasha Brown
Reporting

(CBS 3) PHILADELPHIA For people who live in Delaware and New Jersey, you can track local sex offenders and find out where they live. CBS 3 previously reported on a new web site that maps out any sex offenders near your house. But you can not find that information in Pennsylvania. CBS 3’s Natasha Brown wanted to know why and went to state officials to find the answer.The list of sex offenders with the Pennsylvania State Police seems endless. There are more than seven-thousand listed, but less than 100 with specific addresses listed.In New Jersey and Delaware, it is a much different story. All addresses are posted.Recently CBS 3 showed area parents a new tool to track potential predators.Mapsexoffenders.com uses information from state websites to help users find maps pinpointing exactly where sexual offenders live. Their residence is in red while your address is in blue. But you can not find this information in Pennsylvania.“That's horrific. I think you need to know, especially in a major metropolitan city like Philadelphia,” said one parent, adding, “You need to know if you're child's in danger at all times." Just type in a county, city, or zip code on the Pennsylvania State Police web site and you will get a name, a face, an offense, but not the offender’s specific address. Their address only appears for those listed as sexually violent predators."Under Megan's Law in P.A., we’re going to tell you who you are at risk with and there the one's you should know about and not the one's maybe people may have curiosity about and want to know about,” said a state legislator. “For the sexually violent predators, it's important for the addresses to be known because we do the community notification in those cases and so that people in the community can be vigilant,” stated a spokesperson from the State Police.Some do not think you can be as vigilant without knowing all information."We need to be able to have access to any information, especially moms," commented Valori Caslow.Parents can rest assured that a proposed federal law could soon make more information available. The house has just approved the Children's Safety Act mandating that all addresses of sex offenders be listed on websites nationwide.
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Related Links
Map Sex Offenders.com
PA Megan's Law Website
DE Megan's Law Website
NJ Megan's Law Website