Area officials favor new sex offender law

The sheriff's departments in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties plan to post pictures of sex convicted sex offenders on the Internet once a new state law takes effect Aug. 28.

Local law enforcement officials, prosecutors and victims' advocates welcome the law, which expressly allows law enforcement to include photos in posting online a list of sex offenders living in their communities.

"I have no problem doing it at all," said Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan. He said it's another tool the public can use to guard against sexual predators.

Lt. David James, chief criminal investigator for the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department, supervises his department's Web site. One of the department's jailers actually maintains and updates the online registry of local sex offenders.

James said it will take a little time to scan all the mug shots of those offenders already on the department's online list.

There are 97 sex offenders on Cape Girardeau County's list. Their crimes range from sexual assault to rape and the molesting of children.

Scott County has 116 registered sex offenders living within its borders.

The sheriff's departments in Bollinger and Perry counties don't have their own Web sites, although Bollinger County hopes to go online later this year.

Still, the names of sexual offenders in those counties can be found on the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Web site, which allows searches of all 9,964 of the state's registered offenders by name, street, city, county or ZIP code.

The sheriff's departments in Cape Girardeau and Scott County several years ago posted photos of sex offenders on their Web sites. But they ultimately removed the photos after being informed by the Missouri State Highway Patrol that state law at the time didn't authorize posting such photos online, James said.

Greene County Sheriff Jack Merritt has posted such photos in the past, but pulled them last year after being threatened with a lawsuit. He's vowed to begin posting photos again.

Greene County, which includes Springfield, has 900 registered sex offenders, including 150 that are in jail.

Not concerned with critics

Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter said he knows there still are critics who believe that sex offenders shouldn't be singled out. "I guess they think that maybe it is a privacy thing," he said.

But Walter said he isn't concerned about such views. "I go back to the victim. That is who I am worried about," he said.

He said he doesn't know if adding photos to the registry will make the public feel more secure.

But Tammy Gwaltney, executive director of the Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence, said having photos online could allow residents to identify an offender who they may have seen hanging around a school or other place where there are children.

Armed with that information, residents can notify local law enforcement officials, she said.

Gwaltney said it also might help businesses uncover that an applicant was a sex offender. Such criminals sometimes use fake names, she said.

Gwaltney said the new law can only help expose sex offenders.

Even without photos, the offender list has drawn the attention of concerned residents.

A Cape Girardeau mother recently discovered that one of her neighbors was a registered sex offender. Gwaltney said she and law enforcement officers met with the woman to discuss ways to protect her children.

As it turned out, the man was found to be living too close to a school. He was forced to move, she said.

But Gwaltney said she realizes that relocation doesn't eliminate the risk. "He just moved into another neighborhood," she said of the convicted sex offender.

Under Missouri law, sex offenders can't live within 1,000 feet of a public or private school or child-care facilities.

Sex offenders -- convicted of a crime since July 1, 1979 -- are supposed to register with the sheriff's department whenever they move to a new address. But Angel Woodruff, assistant prosecuting attorney in Cape Girardeau County, said sex offenders often don't register.

"Policing sex offenders and their registration is difficult," she said.

In addition, few sex offenders locally are committed by strangers. When it comes to molesting children, most offenders are parents or other family members, said Woodruff, who prosecutes sex crimes.

"We may see one or two stranger cases a year," she said.

Still, she said, any effort to educate the public about sex offenders can only help residents guard against such crimes.

"Anything that helps protect people is a good thing," she said.

Online registries

For Cape Girardeau County list click on www.capecountysheriff.org

For Scott County, click on www.showme.net/scottcountysheriff

To access the statewide registry, click on www.mshp.missouri.gov