Sex offenders' addresses now available online
By Lee Newspapers
Finding out whether any of your neighbors are convicted sex offenders just got a lot easier.Starting Thursday, the state Department of Corrections will post online the addresses of all registered sex offenders inWisconsin.The department has posted offenders' names, photos and conviction records since 2001. But their location was always intentionally obscured, limited to their ZIP code.Belinda Getzloff, a 34-year-old mother of one, has waited for the Web site to post addresses after several sex offenders were placed near her Wisconsin Rapids home over the past decade."I'd like to know. They say they're out there, but we don't know where they are," Getzloff said. "I would actually like to know where they're living, if they're in my neighborhood."But offenders, most of whom have served their time in prison and are expected to reintegrate into society, are "petrified" by the added spotlight, said Sheila Fields, a psychologist who works with sex offenders and conducts court evaluations."You never know who's reading that and might be vindictive," Fields said.She added that offenders don't always live alone, and the Web site tags all offenders equally regardless of the seriousness of their crime and level of risk."When we think of sex offenders, we're always thinking of the guy who grabs little children off the street," Fields said. "(But) we're also talking about a 25-year-old who might have had sex with a 17-year-old."And Mark Geistlinger, a parent of three young children who lives on Madison's East Side, said he doubted the site would be helpful "because people can commit offenses anywhere.""I think if your kid is in a compromised situation, that's what's most significant. If the kid is alone or after dark or in a place where there's not a lot of people around, then that's a compromised situation," Geistlinger said. "Walking by someone's house who's a sex offender, is that where most offenses happen?" Still, Wisconsin's sex offender registry -http://widocoffenders.org - is hardly unique. Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia have online registries, and the last holdout - Oregon - plans to have one next summer. All but seven list offenders' street addresses.Many states go well beyond what Wisconsin provides. Several include offenders' work and school addresses - even license plate numbers. A handful of the sites will even plot all the offenders in a given area on a map, while a private company in Utah runs a site,http://www.mapsexoffenders.comthat attempts to do the same for 41 states, although a spot check suggests the list may not becomplete.The sites all sprung from states' versions of Megan's Law, named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was killed by a neighbor in 1994. Wisconsin's law requires sex offenders to notify the state of their whereabouts.Gov. Jim Doyle directed the Department of Corrections to put addresses on the Web site as part of a larger initiative announced in September aimed at improving how the state tracks sexpredators."With sex offenders, we believe the whole purpose behind the registry is they're not anonymous," Corrections Secretary Matt Frank said. "Communities can protect themselves when they have specific information about sex offenders living in their area."Although state law prohibits anyone from using the information to harass, intimidate or discriminate against people on the list, Frank said the registry lets citizens help the department keep tabs on offenders.There are about 17,900 registered sex offenders in the state, with about 100 more added every month.Of the 12,742 who have been released from custody, six in 10 are no longer under any supervision, Frank said. For those, the department must rely on the offenders themselves - and tips from neighbors - to keep the registry up to date, he said.The sex offender tracking initiative, which includes a hot line for neighbors to report offenders' activities, "is designed in part to raise the compliance rate," Frank said.Some complain the registry is too broad. Unlike many other states, Wisconsin's registry isn't limited to high-risk, predatory offenders. But that decision was made years ago by state lawmakers, Frank said."Ultimately I think we've come down on the side of public safety," Frank said. "If you're a parent and want to know that information, we believe you should have that information available. Our goal is to prevent further crime and further victimization."Geistlinger fears the Web site will unduly frighten residents or lead to vigilantism. The best security, he said, comes through adults knowing where their children are at all times.Annie Lemkuil agreed. A mother to three young boys, Lemkuil lived just doors away from a registered sex offender until he committed suicide recently, she said. She made sure to get to know the man and tell her children about his past. But she said neighbors made an effort not to shun him."Everybody puts up a stink about, `I don't want them in my neighborhood. I don't want them in my neighborhood,' " Lemkuil said. "Well, if we don't want them in our neighborhood, where are these people going to go?" While she said knowing offenders' addresses is helpful, knowing where her children are and setting boundaries matters more."You always have to be on your guard regardless," Lemkuil said. "You could send your kids to somebody you think is a friend and they could abuse them."The Associated Presscontributed to this report.
Finding out whether any of your neighbors are convicted sex offenders just got a lot easier.Starting Thursday, the state Department of Corrections will post online the addresses of all registered sex offenders inWisconsin.The department has posted offenders' names, photos and conviction records since 2001. But their location was always intentionally obscured, limited to their ZIP code.Belinda Getzloff, a 34-year-old mother of one, has waited for the Web site to post addresses after several sex offenders were placed near her Wisconsin Rapids home over the past decade."I'd like to know. They say they're out there, but we don't know where they are," Getzloff said. "I would actually like to know where they're living, if they're in my neighborhood."But offenders, most of whom have served their time in prison and are expected to reintegrate into society, are "petrified" by the added spotlight, said Sheila Fields, a psychologist who works with sex offenders and conducts court evaluations."You never know who's reading that and might be vindictive," Fields said.She added that offenders don't always live alone, and the Web site tags all offenders equally regardless of the seriousness of their crime and level of risk."When we think of sex offenders, we're always thinking of the guy who grabs little children off the street," Fields said. "(But) we're also talking about a 25-year-old who might have had sex with a 17-year-old."And Mark Geistlinger, a parent of three young children who lives on Madison's East Side, said he doubted the site would be helpful "because people can commit offenses anywhere.""I think if your kid is in a compromised situation, that's what's most significant. If the kid is alone or after dark or in a place where there's not a lot of people around, then that's a compromised situation," Geistlinger said. "Walking by someone's house who's a sex offender, is that where most offenses happen?" Still, Wisconsin's sex offender registry -http://widocoffenders.org - is hardly unique. Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia have online registries, and the last holdout - Oregon - plans to have one next summer. All but seven list offenders' street addresses.Many states go well beyond what Wisconsin provides. Several include offenders' work and school addresses - even license plate numbers. A handful of the sites will even plot all the offenders in a given area on a map, while a private company in Utah runs a site,http://www.mapsexoffenders.comthat attempts to do the same for 41 states, although a spot check suggests the list may not becomplete.The sites all sprung from states' versions of Megan's Law, named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was killed by a neighbor in 1994. Wisconsin's law requires sex offenders to notify the state of their whereabouts.Gov. Jim Doyle directed the Department of Corrections to put addresses on the Web site as part of a larger initiative announced in September aimed at improving how the state tracks sexpredators."With sex offenders, we believe the whole purpose behind the registry is they're not anonymous," Corrections Secretary Matt Frank said. "Communities can protect themselves when they have specific information about sex offenders living in their area."Although state law prohibits anyone from using the information to harass, intimidate or discriminate against people on the list, Frank said the registry lets citizens help the department keep tabs on offenders.There are about 17,900 registered sex offenders in the state, with about 100 more added every month.Of the 12,742 who have been released from custody, six in 10 are no longer under any supervision, Frank said. For those, the department must rely on the offenders themselves - and tips from neighbors - to keep the registry up to date, he said.The sex offender tracking initiative, which includes a hot line for neighbors to report offenders' activities, "is designed in part to raise the compliance rate," Frank said.Some complain the registry is too broad. Unlike many other states, Wisconsin's registry isn't limited to high-risk, predatory offenders. But that decision was made years ago by state lawmakers, Frank said."Ultimately I think we've come down on the side of public safety," Frank said. "If you're a parent and want to know that information, we believe you should have that information available. Our goal is to prevent further crime and further victimization."Geistlinger fears the Web site will unduly frighten residents or lead to vigilantism. The best security, he said, comes through adults knowing where their children are at all times.Annie Lemkuil agreed. A mother to three young boys, Lemkuil lived just doors away from a registered sex offender until he committed suicide recently, she said. She made sure to get to know the man and tell her children about his past. But she said neighbors made an effort not to shun him."Everybody puts up a stink about, `I don't want them in my neighborhood. I don't want them in my neighborhood,' " Lemkuil said. "Well, if we don't want them in our neighborhood, where are these people going to go?" While she said knowing offenders' addresses is helpful, knowing where her children are and setting boundaries matters more."You always have to be on your guard regardless," Lemkuil said. "You could send your kids to somebody you think is a friend and they could abuse them."The Associated Presscontributed to this report.
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