Parents Should Know About Online Sex Offender Registry
This is an off topic post for me, but I thought that this is a story worth sharing. I had a most disturbing encounter the other night. I was at a local Black Eyed Pea restaurant for dinner with my wife and daughter when we were approached by a very gentle, unassuming older man who had the booth next to us. He complimented my nine year old daughter then complimented my wife. He then began to charm us with stories of when he was a pediatric neurosurgeon here in Fort Worth. The conversation continued, the stories were engaging and it all seemed normal, even though as I type this I wonder why I thought it was normal as we had never seen this man before. On the way home, it started to click—why was this nice older man so interested in us? Or, upon reflection, so interested in my daughter.
Within a minute of getting home, I had googled him and found out I had just introduced my innocent daughter to a convicted child molester. His last (known) victim was a nine year old girl. He had lost his medical license when he received two convictions years ago. My wife called the molester (he had given us his number) and gave him an earful. The Fort Worth Police were sympathetic, but he had broken no laws.
Our kids are great at following the rule of not talking to strangers. I know my daughter is. But now I am acutely aware of how I need to do a better job of screening who enters my daughter’s life through me. I am telling you, this guy was smooth. The internet is such a great resource for quick investigations. The Texas Department of Public Safety’s Sex Offender Registry can be searched many ways, including by name or zip code. The DPS’s site can be found at https://records.txdps.state.tx.us. This site has all sorts of information, including name, address, current picture and basis for sexual conviction. I was surprised to learn that there are 82 registered sex offenders in my home zip code and 98 such perverts in my work zip code.
This world has all kinds of people. These bad guys use the internet to their advantage. Believe me, I am going to use the internet to my advantage as well and know who I meet from now on, and be much more careful about to whom I introduce my daughter. I encourage all parents to become familiar with this site.
Information provided by Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Mark A. Anderson.
