Sex Offenders Are Being Tracked

I would like to take a moment to clarify information reported in “Sex Offenders Often Become Tough to Track,” Jan. 30:

The story correctly quotes Lt. Ron Wilkerson as saying we do not send investigators into the field to confirm that properly registered sex offenders are in fact residing at the addresses provided on their registration form.

The out of context quote leaves the reader to believe the Sheriff’s Department does nothing to locate or track sex offenders that have failed to register their addresses as required by law. The story that the quote was used in further suggests we “ . . . can do little other than rely on parole and probation officers to refer the offenders to local police.” This is a totally inaccurate portrayal of our efforts in this area.

The Sheriff’s Department aggressively pursues sex offenders who are suspected of failing to register or moving without making required notifications. In May of 1995 we began developing a program of sex offender registration address verification.

The Department of Justice has identified 662 individuals as sex registrants in the Sheriff’s Department jurisdiction. Of the 662 identified, 139 were found to be out of compliance. Of the 139, 56 voluntarily complied with registration requirements when they received a letter warning of imminent arrest should they not register. There are approximately 83 offenders we are seeking to arrest for failing to register.

BRAD GATES

Sheriff-Coroner

County of Orange