Posted on 01/05/2005 12:14:58 AM PST by nickcarraway
Jill Simpson wishes she had never typed her San Jose ZIP code into the new online database that gives detailed information about convicted sex offenders in California.
A convicted rapist lives two streets away, and three other sex offenders live in her San Jose neighborhood, one near the preschool to which she had planned to send her daughter.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
I had thought that persons with a serious child sex offense history were banned from living near preschools and other child-intensive sites. Guess not?
I have done a bit of research into these lists and declared them to be useless. The catagory of "sex offender" is too broad to be meaningful in most practical situations. For example, some very young people are deemed "sex offenders" and have found their way on these lists. Some of these offenses are about as offensive as "playing doctor".
Think of these lists as you would about "zero tolerance" rules. No common sense is applied. Little Jimmy and Sarah playing peek-a-boo with their pants off are treated the same as Jeffrey Dahlmer.
I don't know about the list in your state but in our community you can see the list at the sherriff's dept website and the charges are explained. If I see
"33 yrs old and convicted of rape" on the list, then it's a convicted rapist...not kids playing doctor.
In my neighborhood I have not known of any harrassment to thse people. What we do is just pay attention...like noticing who comes and go. Most of the yelling and screaming over them coming into your neighborhood is when it's a high profile case. It becomes difficult to place people in those cases.
Just as a side note,the writer, Domminc Dunne, I think to this day keeps tabs on the guy who was convicted of murdering his daughter. He follows him to every community and let's them know he is there. I think he let's potential employer's know his background too. I guess he does everything he can do just short of breaking the laws against harrassment.
You area sounds like it has it's act together. My local list is useless because it doesn't go into any details other than the age and sex of the victim. It takes a bit of leg work to find out that Mr. Dugan down the street is on the list because he and his high school sweetheart went "too far" about 12 years ago.
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