State revamps sex registry

Web site allows more thorough searches, alerts when offenders move nearby

SMITHFIELD -- Citizens who want to know whether their neighbors are registered sexual offenders won't have to search the Web every time a new person moves in.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper on Monday unveiled the state's redesigned sex offender registry site, which has a new feature that allows people to sign up to receive e-mail alerts if a sex offender pops up their neighborhoods or near their children's school or day care.

"We think it's going to be an invaluable tool for communities and families," Cooper said at a press conference at the Johnston County Sheriff's Office.

While all 50 states have sex offender registries, North Carolina's registry is "ahead of the curve" with its mapping technology and alerts via e-mail, said Steve Roddel, founder of FamilyWatchdog.us, a private Web site offering a national sex offender search engine based in Carmel, Ind. Only about six states offer electronic notification of when sex offenders move, Roddel said.

North Carolina created its registry in 1997, requiring all convicted sex offenders to report their current addresses to local sheriff's offices and making those addresses available online.

However, the registry is only as good as the information it receives, and it relies on the participation and honesty of convicted criminals. An offender faces only a low-level felony for failing to register. For example, Antonio Chance is charged with murdering Cynthia Moreland, a Wendell woman abducted from the Progress Energy parking deck in downtown Raleigh on Aug. 22. Chance was a convicted sex offender, but the registry at the time of his arrest didn't list his current address. Chance failed to report his move to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Before the redesign, North Carolina's registry allowed a person to search only by the offender's name or by a ZIP code to retrieve a list of offenders living there. Cooper said the old registry was impractical because it did not show residents where sex offenders lived in relation to their homes. Plus, Cooper added, the public had to routinely check the Web site for the latest information.

The registry's redesign, which cost $368,000, now offers searches by the offender's name, by a specific address and by latitude and longitude coordinates. An offender's profile offers a photograph, a current address, an address history, his conviction, date and county of conviction and punishment.

The search by a specific address brings up a map with markers showing the location of each sex offender within a 1-, 3- or 5-mile radius. It also offers links to each offender's profile. The public also can view detailed satellite images of the same area. About this feature, Cooper said, "You can know exactly where an offender lives in relation to your neighborhood."

The public can register to receive e-mails about specific offenders or about offenders who move nearby.

Cooper's staff is seeking $350,837 from the legislature this year for two staff positions to update and maintain the registry.

While Roddel applauds North Carolina's efforts, he wishes states would focus on providing more detailed information about offenders and their crimes. People don't just want to know the offender's conviction but the age and gender of the victim and some of the circumstances of the crime, he said. For example, Roddel said, there's a difference between the 24-year-old man who was convicted of indecent liberties with a minor for having sex with his younger girlfriend when he was 18 and the 70-year-old man with the same conviction for molesting a toddler.

"Not all sex offenders are created equal. Not all are equally dangerous," Roddel said.

He added: "The states spend a lot of time trying to come up with cool technology. ... What they don't do is spend time and money to increase the information that is available to the public."