Sex offenders in Ohio and Pike County

Reading, writing, and talking about sex offenders, child molesters, and pedophiles in communities and neighbors increases my own heart rate, even though I've provided counseling services for myriad sexually abused victims. Repulsive crimes and the whereabouts of criminals must be kept in the forefront in order to protect children and adults. That's the purpose of the registry of sexual offenders.

The Ohio Attorney General's Office maintains the Electronic Sex Offender Registration and Notification (E-SORN) registry of published sexual offenders residing in Ohio. According to a 2017 article in My Dayton Daily News, Ohio has more than 17,000 individuals in the sex offender registry.

Local sheriff's offices are responsible for registering the offenders into a main database via the Internet. The public can view all registered offenders. However, for certain sex offenders, community notification is not required. Visit http://wp2.pikecosheriff.com/?page_id=910 for information in Pike County.

Ohio Revised Code section 2950.01 classifies sexual offenders into three major classifications: Sexual Predator, Habitual Sex Offender, and Sexual Oriented Offender.

According to My Dayton Daily News, Senate Bill 10 passed in 2007 implemented the federal Adam Walsh Act in Ohio and classified sex offenders into three tiers based on the committed offense.

Tier I: Offenses including gross sexual imposition, importuning, voyeurism, child enticement and some child pornography charges. Must register annually for 15 years.

Tier II: Offenses including unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, compelling prostitution, kidnapping and abduction with sexual motivation. Must register semi-annually for 25 years.

Tier III: Offenses including rape, aggravated rape and murder with sexual motivation. Must register every 90 days for life.

I pursued the Pike County website for sex offender information and found the age, date of birth, sex, race, height, weight, eye and hair color, and tattoo descriptions are listed along with a photograph. Home address, work address, and make/model/year of any vehicles are listed for some, but not for all. A description of the crime, date convicted, conviction state, and release date are listed. Sex offenders must provide information about professional licenses, passports, Visa's, internet accounts, email addresses, and social media site they use.

According to the webpage, 47 sex offenders reside in Pike County. The following are some of the crimes listed: Rape Sexual Motivation, Rape 3rd degree Sexual Motivation, Sexual Abuse by a Parent, Guardian, Custodian, or Person in Position of Trust to a Child Sexual Motivation, Sexual Battery Sexual Motivation, Gross Sexual Imposition victim Under 13, Gross Sexual Imposition, Importuning Sexual Motivation, Corruption of a minor Sexual Motivation, Promoting Prostitution Sexual Motivation, Pandering Obscenity Involving a Minor Sexual Motivation, Voyeurism. Some of the crimes were committed and convicted in states other than Ohio.

In reference to victim information, the juvenile names are not revealed, and the gender and age may or may not be listed.

What if a sexual offender lives in your neighborhood?

Tips from the sex offender website state, "Children are particularly vulnerable to sex offenders. Open communication between parents and children is vital to family safety. If a picture is available from the local law enforcement's website, show it to your family. In general terms, tell your children that this person has hurt someone before. Explain to them that they should stay away from this individual. Avoid scary details. The purpose behind community notification is to reduce the chance of future victimization by better informing the public."

Start by learning the facts and the accurate information about the person. "If there is community notification meeting, go to learn more about this person, their risk level, and how they will be supervised in the community? Learn about the restrictions that have been placed on this person so that if you see them doing something inappropriate you know how to report it to police ? You should be able to get the name and telephone number of the probation or parole officer ? Make the sexual safety of children a priority all the time with everyone in your community." Visit www.stopitnow.org/ohc-content/tip-sheet-14.

Adults must make sure the places where children and adolescents spend time are safe. Unsupervised kids are targets for abusers. Teaching safety tips to children (without causing alarm and anxiety) is imperative as well.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. For more information, visit www.nctsn.org/resources/public-awareness/national-child-abuse-prevention-month.

Melissa Martin, Ph.D, is an author, columnist, educator, and therapist. She resides in southern Ohio. www.melissamartinchildrensauthor.com.