A resource for uneasy Huntington parents

Lauren Vane

Many may not know that Huntington Beach is home to more than 100

registered sex offenders, some of whom live within one-tenth of a

mile of an elementary school, according to the state attorney

general’s office.

With the passing of Megan’s Law, named after a 7-year-old New

Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a child molester who lived

across the street, as of December 2004, the public can go online to

access information about registered sex offenders in their area. As

the online database reveals, sex offenders do live in close proximity

to local schools, raising the question of whether or not Huntington

Beach school districts have taken steps to ensure that sex offenders

do not come in contact with children.

According to local police and school officials from the City

School District, state law prohibits registered sex offenders from

working at a school.

“Hopefully we’ve eliminated the possibility of that problem,” said

City School District Trustee Shirley Carey.

Ocean View School district officials were not available for

comment.

Detective Sgt. Steve Johnson, who works in the

crimes-against-persons unit at the Huntington Beach Police

Department, said employees and anyone else working at a school site

have to be fingerprinted. Additionally, under state law, sex

offenders registered in another state who move to California are also

required to register here, Johnson said.

The fingerprinting mandate includes outside contractors who work

at school sites. This became a concern for the city school district

when they embarked on a comprehensive modernization of schools and

school officials knew that contractors would be a constant presence

at schools sites, said City School District Trustee Cathy McGough.

“Unfortunately it seems like we need to do these things to be

prudent,” McGough said.

Carey said that there has been a strong effort to ensure that

students do not come in contact with contractors working at the

schools.

“You’ll see fences where the contractors don’t cross over and the

students don’t go anywhere where the contractors are,” Carey said.

While it may be alarming that sex offenders can live so close to

schools, in many cases it is not illegal, said Miriam Bedrosian,

spokesperson for the California attorney general’s office. Though a

judge may order certain convicted sex offenders to stay away from

places where children are present, it depends on the case, Bedrosian

said.

Registered sex offenders are required to update their information

with police annually and immediately after changing addresses. When

they register, offenders give a complete list of any tattoos or

markings. Police also take photographs and blood samples from

registrants. Sex offenders who fail to update their information are

in violation of the law and are noted on the Megan’s Law website.

Johnson said his department actively goes after unregistered sex

offenders.

Though neighbors of a registered sex offender may feel concern for

their own safety or that of their family’s, registrants in compliance

with the law have the right to live there, Johnson said.

“We always want to tell people ‘Don’t be paranoid; be aware,’” he

said.

Nonetheless, police keep a close watch on registered sex offenders

and their whereabouts, Johnson said. Whenever a crime, especially

against a woman or a child, is reported, police always investigate

registered sex offenders in the area. Local police do not notify a

community when a sex offender is moving into the area unless it is an

offender whom they believe to be dangerous and likely to commit

future offenses, Johnson said.

This is a difficult situation for police because they see the

public’s concerns but also need to acknowledge the registered sex

offender as being in compliance with the law.

“I understand where people are coming from, no one really wants to

have someone like that living next to them,” Johnson said.

For a city this size, the number of registered sex offenders

living in Huntington Beach is not unusually high, Johnson said. Very

few high-risk sexual offenders and no sexually-violent offenders live

in here.

“We are doing, I think, a very good job. We have more criminal

filings against sex offenders than anyone in the county,” Johnson

said.

The website is https://www.meganslaw.ca.gov.