June 17, 2010
Ever since our children were born, we have made every attempt to provide a safe home environment for them. We bought the safety gates and the cabinet door latches. We made sure the crib met standard safety guidelines and that we didn’t put anything in it that could potentially harm the baby. We moved dangerous items to a higher shelf in the living room to prevent them injuring themselves.
But as our children grow up, it is natural and necessary that we give them a little more leeway to explore their world. We let them play outdoors, ride their bikes, and eventually walk down the street to see their friends. Exploring the neighborhood is an exciting rite of passage for many children. Before you allow your child this freedom, InstantAmber recommends you take the extra step and check your neighborhood and surrounding area, including your children’s school zip code, for the presence of child molesters and sex offenders.
Studies show that child molesters have a recidivism (repeat offenses by a convicted criminal) rate of 10 to 29 percent with female victims and 13 to 40 percent with male victims. This recidivism rate is more than likely under-estimated because they reflect only the number of sex offenders convicted, punished, then released back into the general community. The majority of sex offenses are never reported, thus never prosecuted or subsequently counted in these figures.
There are many websites on the internet where you can check your neighborhood for child molesters and sex offenders. Here are two comprehensive sites:
The United States Department of Justice Sex Offender Public Website:
http://www.nsopw.gov/Core/Conditions.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
Family Watchdog Website:
http://www.familywatchdog.us/Search.asp
Both of these websites allow you to search by location (street, city, state, zip code) and by the name of the offender. Listings generally include the name, photographs and physical description of the offender, the type of offense committed, the age of the victim and the offender’s physical address. On the U.S. Justice Department website, you must click on “advanced search” to find offenders by location. You will have to agree to their terms of use and enter a security code to access this information.
Individual states also have sex offender registries. Simply google “[Your State] sex offender registry” and you can check your state’s registry as well for any additional offender information. We at InstantAmber urge you to take these steps today to keep your children safe and to protect them from danger that might be lurking in your neighborhood.
Sources:
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/res/rcd.html
http://www.familywatchdog.us/staysafe.asp
http://www.nsopw.gov/Core/Conditions.aspx
