Did you know that Santa Monica currently has nearly 30 registered sex offenders living in the region? Far more are transient sex offenders, according to public information listed on the California Department of Justice's Megan's Law website. You may want to avoid trick or treating at these houses and apartments on Halloween, or merely be aware of who's living in your neighborhood during the rest of the year.
Here's how to find a map of registered sex offenders in your California community. First, visit the Megan's Law home page. On the right hand side of the page, you can enter an address and hit "search. Once you've arrived at the search page, you can use the menu on the left side of the screen to search by name, address, city, ZIP code or county. If you're doing a city search, click on "city" and start typing the name in the empty field on the right-hand side.
Click "search. It's important to keep in mind that the Megan's Law site does not list every sex offender living in the community. Under California's Penal Code section , the DOJ is only authorized to display certain types of sex offenders online, according to the agency. People who have been convicted of a registrable sexual offense that falls into one of the following categories can apply for exclusion from Megan's Law website:.
What's more, on any given offender profile, take note of the statement which reads "The Department of Justice has no information about a subsequent felony incarceration for this registrant. Law enforcement officials and researchers caution that the registries can play only a limited role in preventing child sexual abuse and stress that most perpetrators are known to the child. The U. Department of Justice, which oversees the National Sex Offender Public Website , estimates that only about 10 percent of perpetrators of child sexual abuse are strangers to the child.
The Justice Department estimates 60 percent of perpetrators are known to the child but are not family members but rather family friends, babysitters, child care providers and others, and 30 percent of child victims are abused by family members.
