Bel Air 2018 Halloween Sex Offender Map

BEL AIR, MD — Before kids go out trick or treating on Halloween, fall is a good time to take an inventory of who is living in your neighborhood. Bel Air currently has several dozen registered sex offenders listed on the Maryland Sex Offender Registry. There are 22 listed in the 21014 zip code and 23 in the 21015 zip code.

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services offers a searchable sex offender database on its website. That database contains the names, offenses, workplaces and addresses of the state's registered sexual offenders.

You may want to avoid trick or treating at these houses and apartments on Halloween, or merely be aware of who's living in your neighborhood during the rest of the year.

How To Search Maryland Sex Offender Registry

Parents who want to check out the map for themselves can visit the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services website. There, you can search for sex offenders by distance from an address, county, zip code, name and school, to see if offenders are employed by or enrolled in any institutions.

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.

Restrictions On Sex Offenders

Registered sex offenders are prohibited from entering property used for public or nonpublic elementary or secondary education as well as that of registered child care providers. Violations are considered misdemeanor crimes and are punishable by up to 5 years in jail and/or up to a $5,000 fine.

There are no laws in Maryland regulating where sex offenders may live.

"Information put out by other states has shown that residency restrictions do not help to prevent sexual offenses from occurring because the victims and the offenders, in most situations, know each other. Having ready access to victims, in private and secretive environments, is how sex offenders thrive," Maryland corrections officials report.

Tiers On The Registry

There are three tiers of sexual offenders in Maryland: one, two and three.

Tier three offenses have the most serious consequences and include false imprisonment of a minor, rape or attempted rape, sexual abuse of a minor and child kidnapping. Tier three offenders are on the sex offender registry for life and must register in person with a local law enforcement agency every three months.

Tier two offenses include distribution of child pornography, sexual solicitation of a minor and third-degree sex offenses. These offenders are on the sex offender registry for 25 years and must register in person with a local law enforcement agency every six months.

Tier one offenses include possession of child pornography, sex trafficking, travel with intent to engage in illicit conduct and visual surveillance with prurient intent. Tier one offenders are on the list for 15 years and must register in person with a local law enforcement agency every six months.

Most Offenders Are Not Strangers

Law enforcement officials and researchers caution that the registries can play only a limited role in preventing child sexual abuse and stress that most perpetrators are known to the child. The U.S. Department of Justice, which oversees the National Sex Offender Public Website, estimates that only about 10 percent of perpetrators of child sexual abuse are strangers to the child.

The Justice Department estimates 60 percent of perpetrators are known to the child but are not family members but rather family friends, babysitters, child care providers and others, and 30 percent of child victims are abused by family members. Nearly a quarter of the abusers are under the age of 18, the department estimates.

With reporting from Patch editor Deb Belt.

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