How to Find Sex Offenders in your Area

Protecting Your Family from Sex Offenders

 

In this episode, Andy discusses crucial information for parents to protect their families. He covers how to discover if a sex offender lives nearby. He introduces tools like the National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) and its app, advising on their effective use. The episode emphasizes that family safety is a personal responsibility and provides resources to help parents make informed decisions.

 

Protecting Your Family From Sex Offenders [Free download]: https://www.thesecuredad.com/offender

Take control of your data with DeleteMe. Because they sponsor the podcast you can get 20% off a privacy plan from DeleteMe with promo code: DAD. 

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00:00 Welcome to The Secure Family Podcast

00:55 The Risks of Sharing Personal Information Online

03:23 Understanding Registered Sex Offenders

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Episode Transcript

(00:11):
This is The Secure Family Podcast.
Welcome friend.
I'm Andy Murphy, the host andfounder of The Secure Dad.
This show is all about empowering parentsto protect themselves and their family.
I believe that security is afoundation of happiness, and I want
your family to be safe and happy.
The information I share on this podcastis for general information purposes only.

(00:33):
My goal is to empower you to makesafer decisions about yourself
and your family because oursafety is our own responsibility.
Today I'm going to address aquestion that I get a lot, which
is how to know if there's a sexoffender that lives near your family.
All of that more coming upon The Secure Family Podcast.

(00:55):
You know, there are someunintended consequences that
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(01:16):
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(01:38):
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(02:01):
Parents, it's time to levelup your online gaming safety.

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(02:27):
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(02:50):
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(03:12):
There's a link for you intoday's podcast show notes.
One of the most common emailsthat I find in my inbox is
about registered sex offenders.
I get an email from a parent who'sbecome worried all of a sudden about

(03:34):
a sex offender living near their home.
Now, this is of valid concern.
We are protector parents.
After all, it's our business to knowthe real threats that our children face.
So today I'm going to give you somefacts about what you need to know to
make better decisions in the eventthat you find yourself confronted.
With a sex offender living near your home.
First, let's start with the basics.

(03:54):
What is a sex offender?
When we say those words, weimagine, you know, a monster of a
person, someone who looks and actsdifferently than everybody else.
Now, you think you'd be able to spot asex offender from a mile away because
they have horns and fangs, right?
But that is simply not the case.
Predators are peoplewho look just like us.

(04:16):
They have jobs, they go to the grocerystore, they live in our communities.
So what is it that weexactly really need to know?
So let's, let's define it here.
A sex offender is a person who hasbeen convicted of a sex offense and
has been released from incarceration,parole, or other sentence.

(04:37):
From that definition, we can assumethat the sex offender has only been
labeled as such after they have beencaught for a crime, been convicted for
it, and served some sort of sentence.
So sex offenders are criminalswho have served their sentence.
And you can't call somebody a sex offenderunless there is a legal reason for it.

(04:58):
So please be very carefulin how you use this term.
Please also understand that notevery person on the sex offender
registry is a threat to your family.
Some people are on this listbecause people lied about them
and they couldn't prove otherwise.
So don't assume that just becauseyou find a name on that list that
is close to your home, that thatperson is actively threatening you.

(05:21):
That is not the case.
Please use common sense.
It's important to note that sexoffenders are male and female.
Men are convicted more than women,but women can be offenders too.
How many female teachers do yousee in the news accused of a
sexual relationship with a student?
I think that happens like once a week now.

(05:42):
I think that many parents assume thatwomen cannot be evil, but they can.
Understand that it's not just menthat you need to be worried about.
Now you're thinking, Andy, that's allgreat, but how do I know where they are?
So first, let's take a lookat the sex offense registry.
Every state, and even everyjurisdiction has their own set of

(06:03):
laws and rules about what informationis collected about the offender.
That information is then shared publiclyfor the purpose of protecting the public.
The types and the amount ofinformation varies simply because
each state has its own set of lawsthat govern what's collected, and
that can change from time to time.
But there doesn't seem to be a nationalstandard, which you think there would be.

(06:27):
The National Sex Offender publicwebsite is a database that exists so
that citizens and even employers cansearch for offenders in their area.
This is a database that is run by theDepartment of Justice and is the best
source of this kind of information.
You can search by name, address,zip code, county, and town.
It really is a robust tool to useif you feel like you need to use it.

(06:50):
But it's important to know that when yousearch, you first have to submit to the
terms and conditions for use of the site.
And this is important.
They issue a very stern warning about theinformation that you get from the site.
And it's not to be usedto hurt or harass people.
So when you do your search,you may get names, aliases,
photos, addresses, and age.

(07:11):
You may not get access to the casefiles, but generally there is a brief
description about the level of offensethat this person has committed.
Or depending where you search, youmight get more or less information.
Again, it just dependson the jurisdiction.
You should be able to click oneach entry to be taken to the local
jurisdiction's website and there maybe more information for you there.

(07:33):
Another great tool that the NSOPW offersis to search by radius of your address.
So this kind of gives you amap view of where sex offenders
are in respect to your address.
You have the option to enter anaddress to see registered offenders
within I think a three to five mileradius of that particular place.
Now this will help you find out ifthere's a sex offender living within

(07:56):
walking distance of your home.
Now, not all states have thisdata, but most of them do.
I suggest that you do not use youraddress in the search, but use the address
of another home in your neighborhood.
You can also enter the address ofyour child's school, your church,
or any other important location.
This is also important to do ifyou're considering buying a new
house or moving to a new apartment.

(08:18):
Put in that address, see if thereare any offenders living in that new
address that you may have, and havethat way into the decision of whether
or not you're gonna move there.
For ease of use, there is an NSOPW app.
I've talked about this before.
The NSOPW app is on my phone right now.
As a matter of fact, I looked at itright before I did this recording.

(08:38):
You can search just like you canon the website, but there is also
a location radius search as well.
The app will give you up to a mile of yourcurrent location, so that means the app is
getting your geolocation from your phone.
So just be aware.
I suggest that you run a search whenyou are at your home, your office,
your church, a friend's house, or anyother location where your child may be.

(09:02):
Also, this app comes in handyaround Halloween when you are
planning your trick or treat route.
Also there are other apps in yourphone's app store that say that
they will do this search for you,but I suggest that you avoid those.
Those collect a lot of dataabout you when you download it.
Plus some of them only search data brokersites like BeenVerified.com, and they're
not using the actual real database.

(09:25):
That's why I suggest the NSOPW app.
Sex offenders are allowed to live inhotels and use it as a permanent address.
That may sound odd, but that'ssomething that they allow.
So when you go on vacation, use the NSOPWradius search at your hotel to see if
there are any registered in the building.
But as you can guess, sex offenderscan lie about where they live.

(09:47):
While their case officers do followup with them and keep track of them,
you can't count on these searchesa hundred percent of the time.
So as I wrap up, there are otherquestions that you may have, and
that's completely understandable.
That's why I created a free resourcefor you that I call Protecting
Your Family from Sex Offenders.
This PDF goes over even more questionsand information, obviously everything

(10:09):
that you've heard today, but then they'llalso go over what the three levels
of offense are and why that matters.
When you were notified of asex offender moving near you.
How to get more informationabout an offender.
And of course, what to do if yoususpect if your child is being abused.
So this free download is available toyou at the link in today's show notes, or

(10:30):
if you go to TheSecureDad.com/Offender.
You can use this to supplementthe information that I've given
you here today, and you caneven pass this on to a friend.
Send them the link and let them downloadit so they can protect their family.
I want to end the show withsomething to think about.
A warning really.
Sex offenders are only those peoplewho have been caught and convicted.

(10:53):
There are untold numbers ofsexual predators at large
who have not been caught.
They haven't even been charged.
Nobody knows that they'reeven doing this except their
victims who are staying quiet.
These are the greatest threat to ourfamily because they can be a teacher,
a pastor, a friend, or a coach.
That's why it's important to watchwho interacts with your child and

(11:15):
follow your gut instinct about people.
And if your child has an issuewith an adult and they don't feel
comfortable around them, listento your child and act accordingly.
Do not shrug this off.
What I've gone over today is someideas of tools that you can use
to equip yourself as a parent.
But no website is goingto protect our children.

(11:37):
That is up to us as protector parents.
That's all that I have for TheSecure Family Podcast for today.
Thank you, friend for listening.
Take back your privacy and personaldata with help from DeleteMe.
Get 20% off a privacy plan whenusing the code Dad at checkout.
DeleteMe is the official dataremoval service of The Secure Dad.

(12:00):
Keep your kids safe whilegaming with my ebook level up.
Get your copy at thelink in the show notes.
If you'd like to know moreabout The Secure Dad, join
me on Instagram and TikTok.
My username for bothplatforms is The Secure Dad.
And of course, my website is availableto you 24/7 at TheSecurDad.com.
I'm Andy Murphy reminding you to beaware of who lives near your family

(12:24):
and be mindful to make good decisions.