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The 'Offender Locator' is sitting at number four in the top 10 iPhone apps today. It seems that everyone wants to find out who their local neighborhood sex offender is.
After covering so many stories of teachers assaulting students and other unsundry tales of sex assault, we decided to give this app a try.
Before downloading it yourself though, remember that ignorance is bliss. Within seconds of purchasing this $.99 app we located no less than fifteen sex offenders living in a five mile radius of my home, including one just around the corner. Searching the area around my friend's home yielded over 40 offenders within only four miles. Neither of us live in "high crime" neighborhoods.
You can view the offenders as a list, or use the "map all" feature to see just where the offenders are in relation to you. Seeing my green pin surrounded by all those bad guy's red pins made me feel a little bit overwhelmed.
Recalling that people who urinate in public, get caught getting it on with their lovers in bathrooms, and take "naked pumpkin runs" sometimes get slapped with a sex offender charge, we had to wonder how many of these red pins represented actual rapists and child molesters.
To answer this, all we had to do was look at the offender's detailed profile. Here we found intimitate details about each offender including a list of all their convictions and their full name, D.O.B., race, sex, height, weight, address, and a full mugshot. Some listings however did not include a list of convictions - are these the public urinators?
So what makes this different then pulling the info from registered offender databases found on your computer? The app uses GPS so that one can find out how many predators are in any given area, at any given time. Bored at a barbecue? Look up the local sex offenders! Staying the night at a friend's place? Look up convicts in her apartment building. The information is literally at one's fingertips.
Honestly though, who needs to know this stuff? It'll just lead to worry and paranoia.
Comments
And it's also dangerous. There are many vigilantes out there, who have been using the registry illegally to target, harass and kill sex offenders.
Don't believe me? See here:
sexoffenderissues . blogspot . com/2007/09/human-rights-issues . html
Also see this item about this application:
sexoffenderresearch . blogspot . com/2009/08/advocate-alert-iphone-rso-locator_04 . html
40% of registrants, and 40% of registrants' families have experienced vigilante violence, a number sure to increase with this app. I'm not fond of the mean-mugging icon either, it casts all registrants in a menacing tone. Truth @ www.oncefallen.com
Ask anyone in law enforcement: Most sex crimes are committed by someone who is NOT a convicted, registered sex offender.
There is a rumor circulating that this company was actually stealing data from a non-profit entity called PredatorBarrier.com. The site makes national sexual offender data available to the public for free, no registration, no strings.
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