7NEWS Investigates: Tracking Sex Offenders

Aired July 30, 2001

They're supposed to register with local authorities. Their names end up on lists that are available to residents. But are sex offender lists worth the paper they're printed on? A 7NEWS Investigation exposed some serious problems with the way police track sex offenders. If you believe the information provided by the Wheat Ridge Police Department, a sex offender lives in a vacant building. It's one of many inaccuracies we discovered as we checked on sex offenders living in several Denver-area cities. Eleven years ago, a sexual predator raped Melissa Bishop. "You've got to be amazed at how many people are on the list," Bishop said. "It's just astounding to look at all those names on here -- it really is," she said. She's talking about hundreds of names -- all registered sex offenders -- all required to report their addresses to law enforcement. Our investigation knocked on dozens of doors in Denver-area neighborhoods. The addresses were provided by law enforcement. We obtained the most recent report, and the most accurate information. In Lakewood, a resident of the home we checked on told us that the offender didn't live there anymore. At a Wheat Ridge sex offender address, we were told that the offender moved out six years ago.

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When we asked about an offender at a Westminster residence on our list, we were told that they hadn't lived there for five years. And perhaps the most troubling -- an address in Wheat Ridge. According to the report, a sex offender lives at 10251 Ridge Road. We found 9907 Ridge Road and 10285 Ridge Road -- and only one building between those two addresses. There we found nothing but tall weeds, broken glass and a clearly vacant building. Our test checked 31 sex offenders. We found 9 of the 31 were not living where they told police. That's nearly one-third of the information provided by police -- clearly inaccurate. "It's really difficult to find these guys, to really keep track of them," sergeant Dan McCasky of the Lakewood police said. McCasky blames the inaccuracies on growing lists and changing laws. "It's a significant burden to try and keep up with these things," McCasky said. "It really is a drain on our resources," he said.

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State Senator Norma Anderson has authored several laws on sex offenders. She recognizes their limitations, and was not surprised at the results of our investigation. "It's a lack of priorities. It's a lack of manpower. It's a lack of everything," Anderson said. "There's a shortage of law enforcement on the street. There aren't enough bodies to go check everyone," she said. So while other states use the Internet to quickly update sex offender information, post pictures and inform the community, Colorado is left with inconvenient paper lists filled with inaccurate information -- all adding to the frustration of victims like Bishop. "I just really feel like people are being led to believe that they're safe when they're not, and to me that's really scary," Bishop said. So how does the Wheat Ridge Police Department explain their report claiming a sex offender lives in this vacant building? Apparently it's a typo. The sex offender actually lives next door in a state treatment facility. Previous Stories: