How Many Sex Offenders Live in Your Neighborhood?






Sep 22, 2006 09:12 AM MDT

Nampa, Idaho -- There are sex offender watch dog web sites all over the Internet, and one Nampa parent stumbled upon some information he didn't like. Now he's hoping some changes can be made, because as it stands there are more than a dozen offenders within a half mile of his son's elementary school.
"I entered my address and quite a few dots popped up on the screen," said Beau Courtney, a concerned parent.
Those dots represent sexual offenders, and Courtney was shocked to see how many surrounded his 7-year-old son's elementary school, Lincoln.
"There were 16 offenders who live within a half mile of my sons school and two who live within a 1000 feet," said Courtney.
In the state of Idaho that's legal, according to new legislation that went into effect this July.
"It's designed to keep registered offenders off the school property its based on a 500-foot distance where they can't been inside that distance," said Lt. Marvin Dashiell with the Canyon County Sheriff's Department.
But for Courtney, that's still too close for comfort. So after he found out this alarming information, he did what any concerned parent would do -- he started by calling his son's school, and then moved up the chain all the way to the Idaho State Police.
"I kind of got stymied and I ended up at a point where this is the legislation, this is the way it is, and I worry a lot of parents probably don't know that," said Courtney.
The worst part is the only sex offenders people are able to track are the ones who take the time to register.
"We'll still have the fail to comply's. They won't update registration they won't notify change of addresses or they'll just avoid us once they are convicted," said Dashiell.
"I was lulled into that sense of security, its not in my neighborhood, it's not going to happen to my kid. But it happens, and it happens all over, and I shouldn't have been that way," said Courtney.
The Web site he used was http://www.familywatchdog.us/. That site also lists out where the offender lives, their name, mug shot, and what he or she was convicted of. It will also tell you how many offenders live within certain distances to schools.