Locating sex offenders just got easier

The number of sex offenders from Warren County listed on the state sex offender registry will grow significantly by the end of the month as anyone who has ever committed a sex crime is now required to report their whereabouts to the registry.

And, locating an offender near your own home has already become a lot easier as the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has debuted a system this month which pinpoints the locations where sex offenders live on a map. All this information is available for public access via the Internet.

‘The current sex offender law only requires offenders to register if they were incarcerated, on probation, or on parole as of Jan. 1, 1996,’ said TBI Director Mark Gwyn. ‘The new law is retroactive, meaning anyone who has committed a sex crime in the past, regardless of the date, will need to report to their local law enforcement agency between now and Aug. 1.’

Normally, a check of Warren County under the state’s registry brings up about 30 names, most convicted of statutory rape offenses. However, it is expected the inclusion of older cases will swell the number to at least double its current size. Failure of a convicted sex offender to list his or herself on the registry is a felony, generally punished by several additional months behind bars.

The updated system also requires sex offenders who move to Tennessee from other states to list themselves here if they were registered offenders in their former state, even if their offense is not covered under Tennessee’s list of requirements.

The tightening of listing laws comes as the TBI has put a new mapping system on its Web site to assist the public in tracking convicted sex offenders. The search engine uses a map overlay of any of the state’s 95 counties to show exactly where an offender lives. The search engine provides several ways to locate an offender.

The TBI’s Web site is www.tbi.state.tn.us.