NORFOLK, Va. — The arrest this week of a Chesapeake man for violating the sex offender registry raises questions about how police track sex offenders.
"We shouldn't have to worry about sex offenders entering our schools," one Chesapeake parent, who didn't want to be identified out of safety concerns for her children, told News 3 in September.
The Virginia State Police monitors Virginia's sex offender registry. The site gives community members the ability to look up the details of the law and search for offenders by area, by school or by name.
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Roughly 26,000 sex offenders are currently registered in Virginia. The majority of those offenders are Tier III, the most serious level of offense typically reserved for violent crimes and crimes against children.
Virginia State Police said they have a special investigative unit that follows up with each offender a few times a year, at the very least.
"It's to ensure compliance, to ensure the offenders are where they say they live, where they say they work, ensuring they're registering on time like they are required to do so," said Sgt. Albright, Virginia State Police.
Virginia State Police showed News 3 the paperwork sex offenders fill out when they initially register, change their address, job, social media name, appearance, or otherwise. It collects offender information and shows where offenders can and can't be. Sex offenders can visit many public places, like the mall, but other locations are off limits.
"We're more concerned about areas such as school property, day cares, local parks," said Sgt. Albright.
Sgt. Albright said, however, they've found most offenders in Hampton Roads are not reoffending.
"Not a large majority of offenders in the Hampton Roads areas are reoffending. If there's anything most of our charges are for failure to register violations," said Sgt. Albright.
"Someone with that type of offense, it truly limits them," said Todd Walker with the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center, a center that feeds anyone in need, but doesn't allow sex offenders to stay overnight out of safety concerns for others.
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Walker told News 3 that sex offender status can impact where individuals can get jobs, find housing, and more.
"They had to take those jobs because they didn't have anywhere else, and it would just be a challenge acclimating in the neighborhoods," said Walker. "There are people who look up [public sex offender information] to see who's living in their neighborhood, rightly so, especially if they have small children."
Community safety is a top priority for the investigative unit too.
"We're just assisting to make sure we keep our children safe, our families safe, and to serve as a deterrent," said Sgt. Albright.
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The National Institutes of Health reports that there's a widespread belief that child abuse is a cycle, which is why it's important to stop it from happening in the first place. So, police say, if you see something or know of a sex offender not complying with the law, say something.
The public number to Virginia State Police dispatch is 804-750-8788 and the number to the Virginia State Police Registry is 804-674-2825.
