The number of registered sex offenders of children in the United States is measured in the hundreds of thousands. They, like their victims, reside in every community.

While every instance of an adult having sex with a child is a criminal act, there are degrees of severity of these assaults, mainly related to the violence involved.

Every jurisdiction in the country has their own distinct set of laws, definitions and penalties attached to convicted sex offenders, and they can vary quite a bit, state to state.

Generally there are three categories of convictions .. Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 Sex Offenders. Prison terms, probation time and the requirement to appearance on a list of Registered Sex Offender increase accordingly.

However the majority of those convicted will eventually complete serving their prison terms and will be released back into nearly every neighborhood in the general community. They live among us in virtually every locale.

Because of this, so-called "Megan's Laws" have sprung up across the country. One of the main functions is to show the addresses of sex offenders that live among us, often using graphical symbols on MapQuest-style web pages.

Unfortunately many complain about the inaccuracy of such tools noting how easy it is for many registered sex offenders to skip out on the requirement to stay current with law enforcement. A lot simply move to another jurisdiction.

The National Sex Offender Public Registry (NSOPR) was first established in 2005. It is the only U.S. government website that links public state, territorial, and tribal sex offender registries from one national search site.

Parents, employers, and other concerned residents can also utilize each state's separate website search tool to identify location information on sex offenders residing and working in their own neighborhoods.

Please see:
www.NAASCA.org/2011-Resources/010111-Resources-4-FindOffenders.htm