Mar 7, 2008 5:00 pm US/Eastern
Police Close Loophole On Sex Offender Registry
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
The Middlesex District Attorney's Office and the chair of the Sex Offender Registry Board are closing a loophole on the Web site that lists current Level 3 sex offenders.
"It's a great public safety concern," said Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone. "Level 3 (sex offenders) are the most likely to re-offend."
That is why the
sex offender registry just changed the way it does business on the web. In the past, if a level 3 sex offender was re-arrested or landed back in jail, his information was taken off the state's Web site, leaving the possibility that the sex offender could end up back on the street unnoticed and not in the public's eye.
Now level 3 offenders information won't be taken down at all.
In one Salem neighborhood there are four level 3 sex offenders within a half mile of each other. The people in the city say the more information available the better.
"We need to know where sex offenders are so we can protect our children," said Doreen Thomas.
Thomas is a mother of two and is concerned about her kids' safety with sex offenders living nearby.
"I go online and check myself, and I let them know who to be aware of," Thomas said.
"These are people who have not only shown a propensity, but a history of being a danger to women and children and sex offense crimes," Leone said.
Leone and the new chair of the Sex Offender Registry Board say closing any loopholes when it comes to level 3 sex offenders should be a priority.
"This way as we streamlined it, it's a better policy for victims," said Saundra Edwards, chair of the Sex Offender Registry. "We avoid human error or any changes that would make a level 3 not appear on the Web site."
Now people in this neighborhood and any other will always know which dangerous offenders could be in their midst.
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