Sheriff’s Dept. keeping close watch on area sex offenders

Concerned citizens of Sabine Parish will be thrilled with news that the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Dept. is keeping close tabs on more than 50 sex offenders registered in the parish.

Although some may be incarcerated, there are currently a total of 56 known sex offenders living within the borders of Sabine Parish. During the course of writing this article and publication, there was one offender not following rules. The offender has since been arrested and is currently incarcerated.

The offenders residing close to your residence or business can be seen at a webpage provided by the Sabine Parish Sheriffs’ Dept. at www.sabinesheriff.com. After clicking the link to the sex offenders search, a flash presentation on the webpage shows how to use the tracking tools included.

The U.S. Dept. of Justice currently lists several reasons why tracking services like this are important. They include:
--45 percent of sexual assault victims are under 12 years of age;
--75 percent of the victims know their attacker;
--50 percent of sex offenders re-offend;
--More than half of rape/sexual assault incidents happened within a mile of the victim’s home; and
--Sex offenders cross socio-economic boundaries, living in both the richest and poorest of neighborhoods.

“We want the citizens of Sabine to know that we are doing everything in our power to help you stay informed regarding the status of sex offenders,” said Colleen Dowden, who is in charge of registering offenders at the detention center.

She also noted that if one is viewing the webpage and sees any conflict at all regarding a sex offender, they should be contacted immediately either via the webpage or by phone.

Convicted sex offenders must follow a number of probation rules. Within three days of their release, they must report to the Sheriff’s Dept. for registration, which begins on the day of their release. Current fees are $60 annually, and they have 21 days to mail notifications to all residents within one-third to one mile of their address, depending on the severity of the crime. They must also place notices in local newspapers. The notifications are purchased at the expense of the offender.

An offender must also notify all schools, day cares and recreation departments.

Their driver’s license must be flagged with the words “sex offender” and every one of them must purchase an official state ID card.

Depending upon the tier-level of their crime, the offender must also register with the Sheriff’s Dept. several times each year. A tier one offender only needs to register once per year, while a tier three, the most serious offender, must register quarterly.