Twelve sex offenders residing in county

COURTNEY SOLON
DM Staff Writer

Twelve convicted sex offenders reside in the Oxford and Lafayette County area as listed on the Mississippi Sex Offender Registry.

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety Web site contains a list of persons residing in the state who have committed certain sexual offenses or attempted offenses. The information is available at http://www.sor.mdps.state.ms.us/.

As part of the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, the U.S. Congress passed the Jacob Wettering Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act. This act set guidelines for states to establish sex offender registry programs. It has been amended with Megan's Law and the Pam Lynchner Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act which required the creation of a national sex offender registry and requires states to release relevant information about registered sex offenders to protect the public.

Any person who has been convicted, acquitted by reason of insanity or twice adjudicated for any covered sex offense or attempted sex offense is required to register.

"A sex offender must register with the Sheriff's Department when they move into the area," said Chief Deputy of the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department Paul Webb. "It's a felony if they don't register. They also have to have their blood drawn and sent to the crime lab in Jackson in order to have their DNA on file."

The punishment for violating the law and not registering includes fines not to exceed $5,000 or imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for no more than five years or both according to the Mississippi Sex Offender Registry Web site.

Kidnaping a minor, statutory rape, rape and assault with intent to ravish, sexual battery, touching a child for lustful purposes, dissemination of sexually oriented material to kids, exploitation of children, carnal knowledge of a stepchild, adopted child or a child of a cohabiting partner,unnatural intercourse, and any other offense committed in another jurisdiction that would be deemed such a crime in Mississippi are all offenses which require registry.

Local authorities were in agreement about the importance of public awareness of sex offenders living in their community.

"It's very important, especially if you have small children," said University Police Department Investigator Bobby Black. "If he (sex offender) doesn't register you could have one living next door to you and never know until something happens."

Webb also said Lafayette County citizens should know who lives in their neighborhood.

"A person has the right to rehabilitate themselves but in my experience it's not a onetime offense, often it's a re-occurring thing, and I think the community should be aware," Webb said.

Oxford Chief of Police Steve Bramlett said having the online registry is good for the community.

"It's a method of letting the public know who are the predators," Bramlett said.

Once offenders have paid their debt to society they have the right to start over, but people in the community need to know who any offenders are, not only sex offenders, Bramlett said.

Oxford resident Thomas Morgan believes that more should be done than making the names available online.

"I really believe there should be some sort of public notice in the newspaper or something because this is Mississippi and a lot of people still don't have computers," Morgan said.