Doing a Florida sex offender search is relatively easy and convenient for anybody that knows how to operate a computer. In the case of Megan Kanka, the seven-year-old child that was abducted, raped, and murdered at the hands of a convicted child molester Megan’s law was created and allowed for the collection and distribution of known sexual preditors’ data to become public information as a means to protect communities from sexual predators.
Over the years doing sex offender searches through the various sex offender registries all over the country has become more and more common. The people in the commutes of the United States have the right to know whether or not they are living around a potentially dangerous convicted sexual predator.
The Florida Jessica’s Law
In 2005 a nine-year-old girl in Florida by the name of Jessica Lunsford was abducted from her room in the middle of the night by a convicted child molester. Although Megan’s Law was already in effect, the neighbors in the community were unaware that the sexual predator lived in their midst. Jessica was abducted then held captive in a trailer that was in the same neighborhood that she lived in. In captivity, the child molester that had abducted her repeatedly raped her, kept her in a closet, starved her, then eventually placed her in two plastic garbage bags, and buried her alive to suffocate to death in a shallow grave. Jessica’s parents were outraged, along with the rest of the community.
Why Sex Offender Registries Are Important
Some claim that having sex offender registries are an invasion of privacy because they gather and store personal information that belongs to convicted sex offenders, then make it available for the public to see. What many people fail to understand is that all crimes that people are convicted for are public information. The sex offender registries just make it easier for citizens in communities to find information regarding sex offenders that might live around them. Being aware of potential sexual predators in the area that children are in, can help to save lives.
In the state of Florida, in the year 2021, there are currently over 32,000 registered sex offenders. The counties with the highest amounts of sexual offenders are Orange county, Duval county, Hillsborough county, Miami-Dade county, and Pinellas county. The top offenses that sex offenders have been convicted for are child molestation also known as lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 16 years of age, failure to register as a sex offender, lewd and lascivious acts with a child between 12 and 15 years of age and possessing photography that depicts children in a sexual performance.
It is important to do regular scans of your local sex offender registry to know when a convicted sex offender moves into your neighborhood. In many cases, just being aware of the potential threat is enough to save a life.
***Registered Offenders List is a free online resource that strives to offer helpful content and resources to its visitors regarding registered sex offenders that live near you.
