The Predator Next Door

By Gwen Moran

The last thing that Rachel Dickinson expected – or for that matter, wanted -- when she opened her mail was a letter notifying her that a sexual predator had moved into her neighborhood. When the Freeville, New York mother of four learned that a man convicted of molesting children now lived less than 100 yards from her home, she immediately called her local police chief to express her concern.

"[The police chief] assured me that they were keeping a very close eye on this individual," recalls Dickinson. "She also told me, 'Rather than being upset, just be glad you're being notified so that you can talk to your kids about potential dangers out there.'"

Somehow that didn't seem enough. But what should – or can -- you do if you find out a registered sex offender has moved into your neighborhood? The upside, if you can call it that, is because of Megan's Law -- named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a sex offender who moved in across the street from her family's home, and signed into law by President Clinton in 1996 -- all 50 states are required to create public registries of convicted sex offenders and notify community members within varying distances of the offender's residence. (To find out information about Megan's Law in your state, go HERE.) Megan's Law means that at least you'll know if a registered sex offender has moved in nearby.

Even though the percentage of sex offenders who go on to repeat their offense varies greatly and are often reduced if the individual is getting treatment and if the individual is living in a stable, supportive home, it's terribly unnerving to know that someone who has committed a violent sexual act against another person is living down the street. So when you find out one is living next door, or down the street, then what? The first instinct for many is to "do something" about the situation, including posting flyers, confronting the person in question or keeping the person under constant surveillance. As frustrating as it may be, experts across the board recommend against many of these actions.

Some communities are trying to find creative solutions to the problem. Residents of Loveland, Ohio are reportedly pooling their money to offer a financial incentive for a man listed in the Clermont County sexual offender registry to move out of their neighborhood. This isn't illegal, says Joelle Moreno, a professor at the New England School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts. She also says that providing photographs and information from the registry to community leaders, playground attendants, and others who oversee or have access to groups of women and children probably isn't a violation in most cases. However, she adds, any tendency toward vigilantism is a big mistake and could end up getting you in hot water with the authorities.

"When you start putting flyers up in the neighborhood, protesting, putting identifying marks on a car – those activities could constitute harassment, depending on the jurisdiction, since they [jurisdictions] all vary in what's permitted," says Moreno. "Just because someone is a sex offender doesn't mean that they're not protected. You need to be sure that your plans don't backfire."

According to a 2001 report by the Center for Sex Offender Management, there are anecdotal incidents of harassment and vigilantism toward registered sex offenders from almost every state in the country, ranging from verbal threats to the most extreme case where a sex offender's home was destroyed by arson. Moreno says that before you consider taking any action yourself, you should find out what the laws are in your state and municipality surrounding the use of registry data and the actions that constitute threats or harassment.

"Even though saying something like 'I know who you are,' might seem relatively benign, if things get heated and you add, 'and I'm going to call your boss,' or something like that, that could be construed as a threat, depending on your local laws," she explains. "Plus, there's a common sense safety issue. If you're concerned that someone is dangerous, there's a risk if you approach them in such a provocative way. You may make them angry at you, which probably isn't a good idea."

One of the best ways to defend yourself and your family, according to Grier Weeks, executive director of National Association to Protect Children, an Asheville, North Carolina-based national pro-child and anti-crime membership association, is arming yourself with information: who are the sex offenders living nearby; what were their offenses; and what are you permitted to do in the way of dispersing the information based on your jurisdiction's laws. Keep in mind, each state has different criteria classifying offenses – an offense is generally assigned a level between 1 and 3, with tier three being the designation for the most serious offenses – and each state's database keeps varying levels of detail about the nature of the offense. As a result, these databases contain individuals who may have committed offenses that are relatively benign, such as a high school indiscretion with a younger student, or a childish prank, for example, as well as those who have committed much more serious crimes. If you're confused by the information you discover while doing your own investigation, Weeks advises contacting local law enforcement officials. They'll have the best access to information about the level of threat the individual poses.

In addition to any information you obtain from the local authorities, there are ways to find out information on your own. Beginning with the Megan's Law registry in your state, in addition to a list of suggestions and FAQs, you can learn the name, address, offense for which the individual was convicted and see a photo of each registered sex offender. Further research on the individuals is okay, as long as the information you dig up and distribute is within the public domain, such as court records or previous residences, says Moreno. You can try plugging the offender's name into a search engine and finding out information. However, you need to be sure that the information you find references the "Joe Smith" who's now living in your neighborhood, and not some other "Joe Smith."

Fred Wilson, director of training for the National Sheriff's Association in Alexandria, Virginia, says that the attention that is focused when a sex offender moves into the neighborhood should be a wake-up call for communities. "Communities that come together to watch out for each other are generally safer. It's not a vigilante issue. It's a vigilance issue," Wilson says.

Wilson also believes that communities with neighborhood watch programs may wish to make their neighbors aware of the situation, so that each resident can be more vigilant about personal safety. In Dickinson's case the letter she recently received was not her first experience in dealing with the fact a sexual predator was nearby. Two years before, when she was president of her local school board, she learned of a sexual predator near a local elementary school; she contacted law enforcement officials at that time as well,

"He was hanging around across the street from the school, but he wasn't breaking any laws," she says. "He's still in town. We all know who he is, and people keep their eyes open."

Wilson agrees that the key to protecting yourself and your children, whether or not a sexual predator lives in your neighborhood, is to make a concerted effort to be safer. He says that too often, people make it easy for criminals to target them by falling into routines and not paying attention to what's going on around them.

And don't let the existence of a registry, or the fact that there are no registered sex offenders nearby, give you a false sense of security, says Anna Salter, Ph.D., author of Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists, and Other Sex Offenders: Who They Are, How They Operate, and How We Can Protect Ourselves and Our Children. "In this culture, [sexual abuse] is pervasive. The problem with these laws is that people feel they are safe if they don't have registered sexual offenders in their neighborhoods. Whether you do or you don't doesn't change your odds of safety."

Additional methods of protecting yourself often boil down to plain common sense: Keep your doors and windows locked both when you're home -- and when you're not. Park in well-lit areas, have your keys in your hand before you leave your office, the mall or the market and before you reach your front door, do your best to not walk alone late at night and if you're asked for information – like a phone number – while purchasing something write it down instead of saying it out loud.

In protecting your kids, Salter adds that telling children about the threat may not be the best solution. "The research suggests that warning kids about sexual abuse doesn't work," she says. "I'm not saying 'Never have this conversation,' but parents need to constantly monitor their children, where they are, whom they're with." Still, many experts believe that is it important to talk to your children about stranger danger in an age-appropriate manner.

Learn More about Sexual Predators and What You Can Do

• Sexcriminals.com: Information about sex offenders and links to sex offender registries in all 50 states, as well as requirements.
  
  
• Sheriffs.org: National Sheriff's Association site, which includes information on starting a neighborhood watch program.
  
  
• Protect.org: National Association to Protect Children, including articles on child sex abuse and violence.