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New iPhone app shows sex offenders who live nearby

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Comments (11)

Monday, February 6, 2012

(Updated 2:56 pm)

By
Associated Press

RALEIGH (AP) — The state now offers a phone application that allows people to find out if sex offenders live near them.

The N.C. Department of Justice released a free mobile application today that uses a GPS mapping feature built into the Apple iPhone and iPad to show the names, photos and homes of registered sex offenders living nearby.

Users can search for offenders within a 1-, 3- or 5-mile radius of their current location and receive alerts if a registered offender moves in nearby.

The state's sex offender registry is already available online, but Attorney General Roy Cooper said the new app will provide critical safety information to families on the go.

There was no word on whether a similar app will be released for Android users.

Accompanying Photos

Nelson Kepley

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ShellyStow

February 6, 2012 - 5:09 pm EST

I would certainly like to know who is making money from this product. Who owns the company; who are the stockholders and investors? Any silent partners? Are any of those people in a position to, in any way, affect the perception of the public regarding the recidivism rate of those on the registry and the degree of danger they represent? I honestly don't know how people could be so gullible, even ignorant, as to believe that knowing where registrants live creates a safer environment in any way. Doesn't everyone know by now that 95% of new sexual crime is committed by individuals with no past history of sexual offending and therefore not on the registry? Don't all parents know by now that the risk of sexual harm to their children comes not from anyone on the registry but from within the home and circle of trusted friends of the family? I won't even ask if anyone has read the research studies clearly showing no correlation at all between where registrants live and where sexual assaults and molestation occurs. I'm afraid I know what the answer is.

demarisinyamouth

February 7, 2012 - 2:42 am EST

I agree. So I guess they're saying that sex offenders never leave home and never commit crimes away from home. And I feel sorry for the parent that is dumb enough to think that they don't have to worry about their kids' safety because there are no KNOWN sex offenders living in the area.

RWVNRAL

February 6, 2012 - 10:39 pm EST

This app is little more than an invitation by the state for vigilantes to harm registrants....or worse, to harm the families of registrants whenever registrants are not at home (since there is no requirement for them to sit idly in their homes). God forbid that some screwball with a cell phone and this app decides to look up a "predator" and "do the world a favor" only to end up harming or killing whomever happens to be at the registrant's home at the time. This is extremely dangerous and irresponsible of the chief law enforcement officer of the state. Instead of keeping people safe, he has deliberately placed them in harm's way.

demarisinyamouth

February 7, 2012 - 5:03 am EST

I agree with you, also.

joueur0311

February 7, 2012 - 10:07 am EST

I just downloaded the App and I was immediately impressed with the detailed information and overall design. I understand this is not a way to keep a child safe from sexual predators, but what it does provide is a little peace of mind. This could help be a deciding factor for someone who is looking to relocate residence to allow them to find out beforehand whether or not they will be living beside a sex offender. The App has pictures of the individuals as well as description of crime, age of victims, as well as term of registration. It is unfortunate that some will see this useful tool as a violation of rights or a security threat to those who have offended. The law is the law, and when you break a law there are consequences. The individuals who knowingly break this law and violate the safety and well being of children and/or young adults and their families, should expect to be treated differently than those individuals who choose to adhere to the laws established by our government.

ShellyStow

February 7, 2012 - 6:58 pm EST

Joueur, what is unfortunate is that you take any comfort at all in the information provided by the app. There are two reason why the information is useless.
First, most registries do a worse than inadequate job of listing information. As an example, look for Frank Rodriquez on the Texas registry. Find the one from Cameron, and you will see a charge of sexual assault of a child and lifetime registration. A real dangerous guy, right? Wrong. The "assault" was a consensual relationship with his girlfriend while they were both in high school. He and the "child," the "victim," have now been married around 15 years and have 4 children. He is still on the registry.
The second reason is that you are overlooking the fact that almost 100% of those who sexually molest children are not on the registry. They are in the circle of family members and close family acquaintances of the children they molest. They have yet to be charged with a crime, and the greatest majority will never be.
If the registry didn't divert attention and resources away from figuring out how to slow the sexual molestation of children, if it didn't make it almost impossible for registrants who want to make up for their mistakes and move on to do so, and if it wasn't a "hit" list for vigilantes who threaten and intimidate even the young children of registrants, then it might be said to be benign even though it is useless. But it does do those things, and it is not benign; it is not even neutral; it is a crime for which, sooner or later, our society will have to pay.

joueur0311

February 8, 2012 - 11:21 am EST

It is unfortunate, that in extremely rare cases as the one you mentioned above, some are bogus. Again, very rare. I will agree with you on the fact that a great number of molestations happen inside the family circle and sadly a majority of those instances never get reported. It's depressing to see that in this thread my opinion and thoughts are the minority. Vigilante Justice against sexual predators is unfortunate as well and should not be tolerated but the number of those instances dont even compare to the number of sexual exploitation crimes against children and adults. If you were in fact a victim or had children or close family members that were victims of this hanus crime perhaps your stance on this issue would slightly differ. You obviously feel this information is somewhat unfair and are highly concerned with the safety of offenders. Maybe our senator would love to hear some of your issues and a letter expressing those concerns might do some good and give you a little "peace of mind." This application is just one of many that exposes sex offenders, this type of information is not new and even without the App you can find this info online. The rights of offenders are not high on anyones list due to the nature of the crime. Oddly enough in this post I will be the lone wolf so to speak to have that opinion.
The App is not perfect but as I stated earlier it gives people who have been a victim of this crime a little peace of mind, I mean every little bit helps.

ShellyStow

February 9, 2012 - 10:01 am EST

Possibly you find yourself in the minority because more and more people are realizing the truth about the registry and its failure to even begin to offer anything positive. I became involved in these issues after I found out my mother had been abused as a girl by her father and then found out that my daughter had been molested as a very young child by an uncle, and I wanted to educate myself as much as possible on a topic about which I knew virtually nothing. I wanted to know how things like that could happen and why they happened. This is what I learned. I learned that virtually all sexual crime against children and most against adults follows the same pattern as in my family; those committing the abuse are family members and others within the circle of close family friends and acquaintances. I discovered that there are educational programs that have shown some success on a limited scale in breaking these cycles of abuse and reducing the number of victims. I discovered that no money is put into these programs on a state-wide or national level and that none is available because all resources allocated to sexual crime "prevention" is aimed at individuals on sex offender registries. I learned that the efforts focused toward registrants, e.g. the registry, residency restrictions, etc., do nothing to stop sexual offending, especially toward children. This is due to 1) the recidivism rate for registrants being extremely low, and 2) the fact, aforementioned, that, for children, very close to 100% of those who sexually abuse them are not on the registry. I learned that so many on the registry are there for consensual, misdemeanor, and/or no-contact situations. We have done this now for close to 20 years. Nothing has changed, nor will it as long as we shut our eyes to the truth. Even though I want justice for everyone, I am not "protecting" anyone; I am simply tired of everything we have going to monitor those on the registry and ignoring to the point of criminal the children who continue to be abused in their own homes and other places where they should feel safe.
And you have no way of knowing how "rare" certain types of situations are. I think you would be surprised if you knew the truth. And I hope you realize that your peace of mind comes at the cost of the destruction of not only many registrants who desperately want to make up for what they did and move on but can't because of the registry but also of their families, especially their children.

demarisinyamouth

February 8, 2012 - 2:18 am EST

So what if you buy a home and a sex offender moves next door 6 months later? Or what about the sex offenders that have not been convicted and nobody knows about?

joueur0311

February 8, 2012 - 11:25 am EST

Peace of mind. That was just a vague example. Nice user name, in posts especially this one, people should take you very seriously.

suetiggers

February 11, 2012 - 8:40 pm EST

It seems when it comes to sex offender laws, there is no such thing as too much. Now if only they worked. There is no evidence they protect children any better; point of fact 95% of offenses are by someone the child knows. The Dept. of Justice did a study showing that the level 3's are no more dangerous than the level ones. Even the man who started it all has learned, i.e.
'The system is broken. It’s overwhelmed
and I think the public
is starting to realize that.
You can’t paint sex offenders with
a broad brush.'
(John Walsh, father of Adam Walsh)
But, the beat goes on. There's no such thing as too much. This, even though the large majority on the registry are NOT dangerous, esp. NOT to prepubescent children. Somebody needs to stop letting unscrupulous politicians, drama-driven media and overly zealous prosecutors stop using these laws for their own personal agendas.