How Safe is Your Neighborhood? One Way to Check
- 1 of 5 girls and 1 of 6 boys will be molested before their 18th birthday.
- 90% of all sexual assaults against children are committed by someone whom the victim knew.
- The typical sexual predator will assault 117 times before being caught.
- The re-arrest rate for convicted child molesters is 52%.
These are the statistics as listed on Family Watch Dog, a national sex offender registry.
A friend of mine recently sent me a link to the website, and I found it so helpful I had to pass it on to you. This is a free service, and you can sign up to have email sent to you the moment a sex offender has registered in your area. Or if you like, do a search on your address to locate any registered sex offenders in your neighborhood. The site will not only give you the addresses and offenses, but many times a picture is included. I checked my address and found three offenders, all 1/2 mile from my house, who have offenses against children on their record. I urge everyone to take a moment to check their own neighborhoods, the areas around their schools, or anywhere your children routinely play. My neighborhood is nothing out of the ordinary, so don't let yourself feel too comfortable if you feel safe where you live. Take a moment, check, and keep updated. Share the information and photos with your children. It's simple steps like this that could keep them safe in the future!
2 comments:
My only comment on this is, working with the Michigan Department Of Corrections, I see a lot of sex offenders. Now this isn't a large number of offenders, but even a teenage boy that had sex with an even younger teenager, boyfriend and girlfriend, and get caught by mom and dad have to register. This will be on their record for at least 20 years. So now your talking about a 30 year old man in your area who had a girlfriend in high school now looking scary to you. So do your research before you flip out about your neighbor. Just another thought from niffty sissty.
Thanks for the input! Yes, it's true - your neighbor could be a teenager who got caught with his slightly younger girlfriend. The great thing about this website is that they spell it out for you. You can see if the offense is worthy of getting nervous about; if it's a 60-year-old man who's had an offense with a child, they make it very clear for you. There are several ways to dig into the record, which is very helpful. As for it not being a large number of offenders, when you have a child, one offender in the neighborhood is one too many! Good to hear from someone who has a professional opinion. Thanks again!
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