This way of thinking may be flawed.
A trend appeared after cross-referencing the state’s online registry of sex offenders with mapping technology.
In the cities of Temple, Belton, Troy, Rogers and Academy, there are a total of 34 registered sex offenders who reside within 1,000 feet of a school or day care - four of whom are considered “high-risk” offenders.
The violations of the sex offenders include indecency with children, aggravated sexual assault, indecency by exposure and statutory rape. More than 95 percent of the victims were children, most of those under the age of 14.
Unless the convicted sex offender is on supervision, or as part of their supervision terms are not allowed to reside near a school, there is no city or state statute that limits where they can live, said Skip Carmouche, supervisor of the records division for the Temple Police Department.
Child sex offenders, however, can be prohibited from living anywhere that violates a 1,000-foot “buffer-zone” around schools and day cares - or any areas where children commonly gather - while they are on parole or probation. That determination is made by the judge as part of the terms of their parole or probation.
Some convicted sex offenders are required to register for life; others must continue to register for 10 years after their parole or probation ends, Carmouche said. It depends on the offense. Sex offenders are required to register within seven days from the day of their release.
Temple police have a full-time person whose job it is to ensure that convicted sex offenders are in compliance with the law, Carmouche said.
A check of the state’s registry of sex offenders and online maps shows that more than 20 schools and day cares have sex offenders who are either on parole and probation living within a 1,000-foot radius. Among those are the Travis Middle School and Lamar Middle School of Temple, Miller Heights Elementary of Belton and Troy Middle School.
Temple native Janet Vazquez, who has a son who will be attending Travis Middle School next year, is distraught that registered sex offenders may live near the school.
“I don’t know how safe I think he would be if he had to walk to school,” Vazquez said. “I would like to have some sort of notification about the fact (that a sex offender lives nearby), but I haven’t heard of anything. I think the schools should be alerted and that they should let parents know too.”
The Temple Police Department notifies the Temple Independent School District when a convicted sexual offender resides in the community. Notifications are also sent to private schools, Carmouche said.
The school system notifies schools in the area where registered sex offenders live when they receive that information from law enforcement, said Dr. John Hancock, assistant superintendent at TISD. But the schools don’t notify parents.
The TISD has a detailed policy in place for how to handle registered sex offenders who come on their campuses as visitors.
Those registered sex offenders who are not parents are not allowed on campus, he said. For sex offenders who are parents, supervisors are notified when they come on campus and they are supervised throughout the visit, Hancock said.
“We do have to address parental rights,” Hancock said. “But, at the same time, we have to address the safety of our kids. That’s the purpose of the procedures put in place.”
Several cities in the state have enacted statutes that upped the ante on requirements for buffer-zones.
The city governments of Abilene, Little Elm and Plano have either lengthened the time-limits that restrict sex offenders, or have expanded the buffer-zones that keep sex offenders from schools and day cares.
In May 2007, the Killeen City Council toughened its restrictions on registered sex offenders, saying that they cannot live within 2,000 feet of schools or day care centers.The Copperas Cove Independent School District made headlines in January for stiffening its policy on parents who have been designated as sex offenders. Under the new policy, those parents are denied access to the campus.
Although there are several schools in Bell County that have sex offenders living nearby, there are a higher number of registered sex offenders residing close to day care centers, possibly because day cares often locate in residential neighborhoods.
Some day care officials refused to comment on whether or not they were aware sex offenders lived near their facility, but did say they took every effort possible to ensure the safety of children in their facility.
Carmouche said day cares are not on their list for notification.
Five different sex offenders are situated within 1,000 feet of one specific Temple day care. One of those is a high-risk offender convicted of molesting a 6-year-old girl in 1999. High-risk offenders are those who pose a serious danger to the community and will continue to engage in criminal sexual conduct, according to the Temple police.
Chane Godfrey, the mother of a child who attends the day care, was terrified when she found out.
“I’m alarmed,” Godfrey said. “It’s scary to know that those sorts of people can sit (in their homes) and watch your kids because they live so close. I think that knowing those people are so close makes me reconsider having my child there.”
There are those who disagree about the need for a crackdown on sex offenders and believe that furthering restrictions would have negative effects on the community. In addition, they say, the constitutional right of convicted sex offenders to choose their living arrangements could be compromised.
Dr. Bruce Nystrom, a psychologist who deals specifically with sex offenders and the victims of sexual abuses, is among those who believe enhancing restrictions on sex offenders would be pointless and unfair.
“First thing to understand is that people who offend against children, the overwhelming majority of them offend against someone in their family or that they have a relationship with,” Nystrom said. “It’s usually not just some guy down the street molesting neighborhood kids.”
Nystrom also points out that criminal re-commit conviction rates are 30 to 47 percent nationwide, and that statistics for sex offenders are only about half as high, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice. He also said sex offenders who go through rehabilitative programs very seldom become repeat offenders.
“The point is that these people are still people, and if cities keep extending the residency restrictions, there won’t be anywhere in cities for them to live. They’ll be forced to live in rural areas and won’t be able to get good jobs,” Nystrom said.
Godfrey, the mother of a child in day care, thinks more should be done to protect the community.
“There should be more done to help people know,” Godfrey said. “I had no idea, and I just don’t feel comfortable with my child being in what could be a very dangerous situation. I don’t know of any parent that would be.”
The Temple Police Department is “very active” in its effort, Carmouche said.
“Whatever we can do to keep track of sex offenders is what we need to do,” he said. “We are very active here in ensuring that they do register. We have safeguards in place.”
Billy Crawford is an undergraduate student at Northeastern University in Boston. He is a graduate of Rogers High School in Bell County.
