Popular Websites That Track Child Predators

LAST UPDATE: 3/28/2006 6:46:08
AMPosted By: Maritza Nunez
This story is available on your cell phone at mobile.woai.com.
How much do you know about the people in your neighborhood? News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooter Tanji Patton shows you how to find out if any of them could be a threat to your child's safety.
Vergel Casunuran keeps a close watch on his neighborhood. He is the father of two young children and he looks out for their safety by constantly checking websites that track child predators and where they live.
"They're everywhere," he says. "Every time there is a sexual offender move in within the zip code, I will be notified by email of the move."
Vergel uses a website called mapsexoffenders.com. All you have to do is type in your address, and your neighborhood pops up, along with bullets that pinpoint where a registered sex offender is living. Click on the bullet, and you'll see the offender's name, address and picture.
Sign up for email alerts and you'll get a message every time a sex offender moves into your neighborhood.
Familywatchdog.us is another popular website. Many viewers have emailed the Trouble Shooters about this site that shows you a satellite image of sex offenders in your area. Searching the database is free, but if you want email alerts, there is a small fee.
Both websites get their information from the official DPS sex offender database,which provides even more information, all free of charge.
"DPS compiles the information in a statewide databse that's accessible to the public," says DPS spokesperson Tela Mange.
The websites give Vergel some peace of mind. "To me, if a simple task like that would save a kid, it's worth it."http://www.mapsexoffenders.com/ http://www.familywatchdog.us/ http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/