Sex Offender Lists Only Tell Part Of Story, Prosecutor's Office Says

Parents who read the Patch’s articles recently that mapped the locations of sex offenders in their towns should not be lulled into a false sense of security, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office says.

“The website changes daily,” said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office. ”Parents should not have a false sense of security (because the information is published).”

“They need to make protecting their children a priority,” Della Fave said.

Della Fave said while the maps show Tier 2 and Tier 3 offenders, they are just a snapshot of the larger picture.

In Ocean County, there are roughly 800 sex offenders, but only half at most -- 300 to 400 -- are published in the State Police listing, under state regulations.

“The registry is not a complete and comprehensive listing of every person who has ever committed any sex offense in New Jersey, nor does it make information about every sex offender living in New Jersey available on the Internet,” he said.

Of the 800 in Ocean County, there are 15 to 20 Tier 3 offenders, who are considered the most dangerous, and the prosecutor’s office goes door-to-door to notify neighbors when a Tier 3 offender moves to a neighborhood, he said.

That does not happen with Tier 2 offenders, who are considered at moderate risk of commiting another sex crime, he said. The rules under which a community is notified of the presence of a Tier 2 offender are significantly different, according to information published on the state Division of Law and Public Safety website.

Della Fave said it’s not simply those issues, however, that mean parents need to be vigilant about their children’s safety.

There are delays in how quickly information is posted on a new offender who may live in your town, because it typically takes about 30 days for that information to get from the court system to the county prosecutor and then to the State Police registry, he said.

Additionally, the state notification law gives sex offenders moving to New Jersey up to 70 days to notify law enforcement in the town or the State Police that they have arrived in New Jersey, according to the state’s Megan’s Law information.

Sex offenders who are deemed compulsive and have been repetitive offenders must verify their address with law enforcement every 90 days, and while Della Fave said the prosecutor’s office is very proactive about keeping track of sex offenders, there are those who do not follow the rules. The prosecutor’s office has charged several people with failure to properly notify law enforcement of address changes under Megan’s Law in recent months.

There’s another issue, he said: those who plead guilty in child pornography cases are not on the Tier 2 or Tier 3 list because quite often they plead guilty to possession to avoid a conviction on distribution of child pornography. A conviction on charges of distribution of child pornography carries a requirement to register as a sex offender, Della Fave said.

“The bottom line is that parents must make their children’s safety the priority,” Della Fave said.

For those who may not have seen them, here are links to the sex offender maps produced for each Patch site in Ocean County. The information reflects what was on the State Police website last week, and includes only Tier 2 and Tier 3 offenders.

Toms River Sex Offender Map

Brick Sex Offender Map

Manchester Sex Offender Map

Point Pleasant Sex Offender Map

Berkeley Sex Offender Map

Lacey Sex Offender Map

Barnegat-Manahawkin Sex Offender Map