Do Sexual Predators Live in Your Neighborhood?

It’s almost time for little ghosts, goblins and ghouls to hit residential streets throughout the Tampa Bay area in search of sweet treats to bring home.

Parents who want to help protect their kids from dangers that may lurk in their neighborhoods will find the Florida Department of Law Enforcement offers a handy, searchable database on its website. That database contains the names, offenses and last known addresses of the state’s registered sexual offenders and predators.

Sexual offenders are classified by the state as those who have been convicted of sexual misconduct in the past. That misconduct may include a spectrum of offenses ranging from computer pornography and video voyeurism to sexual battery. Sexual predators are classified as those who have been convicted of a sexually violent offense who have also been designated through a written court to be sexual predators, according to the FDLE website.

The Tampa Bay area is home to thousands of registered sexual offenders and predators, according to FDLE records. To illustrate the sheer volume, Patch searched the database using landmarks from towns around the Tampa Bay area to gauge the number of offenders found within a 5-mile radius of those points of interest. The results are as follows:

Tampa Police Department, 411 N. Franklin St.

• FDLE records show 583 offenders and predators living within a 5-mile radius of that address. The 5-mile radius is the maximum distance the offender search tool will return results for.

Sarasota Police Department, 2099 Adams Lane

• FDLE records indicate 271 registered offenders and predators within a 5-mile radius of police headquarters.

Bradenton Police Department, 100 10th St. W.

• Records indicate 369 offenders and predators living within a 5-mile radius.

St. Petersburg Police Department, 1300 First Ave. N.

• FDLE records show 831 registered offenders and predators living in a 5-mile radius of police headquarters.

Clearwater Police Department, 645 Pierce St.

• Records show 360 predators and offenders living in a 5-mile search radius.

Largo Police Department, 201 Highland Ave.

• FDLE records show 551 registered offenders and predators within a 5-mile radius

Tarpon Springs Police Department, 444 S. Huey Ave.

• FDLE has 165 registered offenders and predators on record within a 5-mile radius of police headquarters

New Port Richey Police Department, 6739 Adams St.

• Records indicate 290 predators and offenders within a 5-mile radius of this address.

Central Pasco Professional Center, 4111 Land O’ Lakes Blvd.

• FDLE has 37 predators and offenders on record within a 5-mile radius.

Temple Terrace Police Department, 11250 N. 56th St.

• FDLE records show 526 registered offenders and predators within a 5-mile radius.

Westfield Brandon, 459 Brandon Town Center Drive

• FDLE records show 388 registered offenders and predators within a 5-mile radius.

How to Search for Yourself

Parents who want to check out the maps for themselves can visit the FDLE’s website to get started. To pull up a map of all registered offenders and predators within a specific neighborhood, click on “Neighborhood Search. “ From there, type in your home address or the address of a point of interest and add the city name or ZIP code.

The tool allows users to start their searches in an area as small as a ¼ mile radius of the listed address and goes up to the 5-mile mark. Results can be displayed in list or map form.

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