For more than 50 years, California has required dangerous sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement agencies. However, information on the whereabouts of these sex offenders was not available to the public until the implementation of the Child Molester Identification Line in July 1995. The information available was further expanded by California's Megan's Law in 1996 (Chapter 908, Stats. of 1996).

Megan's Law is named after seven-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a known child molester who had moved across the street from the family without their knowledge. In the wake of the tragedy, the Kankas sought to have local communities warned about sex offenders in the area.

Now, California's Megan's Law arms the public with certain information on the whereabouts of dangerous sex offenders so that members of our local communities may protect themselves and their children. The law also authorizes local law enforcement to notify the public about high-risk and serious sex offenders who reside in, are employed in, or frequent the community.

The law is not intended to punish the offender and specifically prohibits using the information to harass or commit any crime against the offender.

In California, it is against the law to publish an address for a sex offender. However, information is available on Megan's computer at the Poway Sheriff's Office and the San Diego Police Department.  The neighborhood "maps" are very general with regard to the location of the offenders.

There are some rules:

Poway Sheriff's Department at (858) 513-2800 makes the full information available Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  It takes about 30 minutes to review, and appointments are recommended.  They are located behind the Poway Library at 13100 Bowron Road, corner of Poway Road.

San Diego Police Department at (619) 531-2000 makes the information available Mondays thru Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at 1401 Broadway, south side of building, corner of 14th street.  If there is a line (no appointments), people are restricted to 15 minutes on the computer.  Must be 18 or over with a valid ID. Information cannot be downloaded or printed out, but one can take notes.

The information available: names and known aliases, age and sex, physical description, photo, if available, crimes resulting in registration, county of residence and zip code. This is updated daily by the Department of Justice.

As of November 1, 2002, there are a total of 4,726 registrants in San Diego County; 40 are "high risk,"3,766 are"serious."

Officer Paul Lennon suggests that, "no matter how few violators live near your home, please don’t get a false sense of security. Sex registrants can, and do, travel."  And we remind people that registered sex offenders also include predators of persons of all ages and we should all exercise reasonable caution at all times.