31 Sex Offenders Rounded Up

By Rachelle Bowden in News on Feb 2, 2005 1:14PM

As part of Operation Hide and Seek, 31 registered sex offenders in suburban Cook County were taken into custody on Monday for living too close to schools and playgrounds. It's against the law for convicted sex offenders to live within 500 feet of "safe zones" under the IL Sex Offender Act.

The act is pretty easy to get around, it seems, since the police rely on the sex offenders to just follow the law. If someone moves they have 10 days to register into a new location. If someone gets out of prison they have to register immediately. But it's up to the sex offender to register. Right now there are about 150 offenders who are "noncompliant," meaning they have not registered with the state as to where they are living. Sounds great! Since most sex offenders can't help themselves.. it's like alcoholism or drugs, except worse because they're fucking with a human life, not a glass of wine.

Of the 1,300 sex offenders living in suburban Cook County, 300 were convicted of crimes involving kids. Police urge parents and teachers to check the sex offender registry for their community to see if any sex offenders live near schools or parks. Seems like good advice, but the biggest problem is those who don't register. It seems that the odds are high that they're purposefully living next to the daycare center and that's why they're refusing to register.