Would you ever buy a house near a sex offender?

[tmm99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronin There's a website that shows the location of registered sex offenders in the area. There are a surprising number of them nearby (within a few miles) including several within a few blocks. So it maybe that while this person is the one you know of, he may not be the only one near you.

You may be talking about www.crimereports.com
That's what I looked at when I was looking for housing in the bay area (Northern CA) years ago.

[Dash man]

We've lived in our home for 15 years and 3 years ago a sex offender moved in with his brother down the street. The police chief held a meeting for the neighborhood to discuss the individual and answer any questions, also making a point it was illegal to threaten or harass him. This person had raped two women in their 50s with no battery charges associated with the rapes. He had a job and pretty much kept to himself while he was there. He did commit a parole violation of some type so he's behind bars again. But I would not confront him in any way about the crime as that can be considered harassment. But I wouldn't be too worried if he's been there ten years. That tells me he's at least not causing trouble locally.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

[daylatedollarshort]

As others suggested I would pay attention to the macro level crime statistics. The sex offender lists have so many people on them these days they are pretty much meaningless. In some areas people can get on them for public urination. You could pass on this house and end up moving next to a former serial killer instead since there are no lists for those kinds of crimes that I know of.

[redduck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRG Would not bother me in the least. If the state had any real evidence he'd be locked up forever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dash man We've lived in our home for 15 years and 3 years ago a sex offender moved in with his brother down the street... This person had raped two women in their 50s with no battery charges associated with the rapes. He had a job and pretty much kept to himself while he was there. He did commit a parole violation of some type so he's behind bars again.

Apparently, this guy wasn't locked up forever.

note: all highlights by redduck

[Sue J]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daylatedollarshort You could pass on this house and end up moving next to a former serial killer instead since there are no lists for those kinds of crimes that I know of.

Or a future serial killer! There are no guarantees.

Speaking of criminal neighbors.... our adjacent neighbor (via the backyard) went to prison for 17 months for a child endangering conviction. She was in her 60's and plea bargained from an assault charge when a child in her care suffered skull fractures. She was everyone's favorite grandma type and ran a day care business in her home for 20+ years. Something happened there, she wouldn't admit to having done anything, she pled guilty to not seeking help for the child.

She is now 83 and doesn't remember our names even though we've been neighbors for 33 years.

[RetireAge50]

I don't think I have ever met the neighbor two doors down. They might be a serial killer or anything else and I would never know. I'm sure there are wacky people everywhere and trying to live by only perfect people will probably be impossible.

We used to play in the woods as kids. No thought of safety whatsoever. Later they found bones of people in these woods killed by the green river killer. He only lived a short distance away.

I let my kids play in the woods when they were growing up otherwise I think they would be missing out on a lot in life. These are just my thoughts though and everyone has different levels of comfort.

[youbet]

Given that DW and I are long time empty nesters, the only consideration we'd give to the situation is future resale value. I don't know the answer to that one and I think it would be tough to determine in advance.

[ERD50]

It's kinda creepy googling this subject, but States often have laws that a child sex offender can't live within xxx feet of a school, playground, etc.

I don't think that applies to other categories of sex offender though, so it might not protect you from a serial rapist or other forms of creeps.

edit - I see now this was also mentioned in post #5

-ERD50

[rodi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cathy63 So what happens if you buy another house with no sex offenders nearby and two years later, a sex offender buys the house two doors down from you? Would you move?

This was my thought as well. There are no guarantees that you won't have a sex offender move in next door, sometime in the future.

Is the house discounted, or can this be used as a negotiating point in the purchase price? Seriously - I'd consider it if I could get a good enough deal on the house. And I have kids at home.

We have various minor sex offenders within a few blocks of our house. Several are geriatric old guys living in the senior community near us.

[utrecht]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRG Would not bother me in the least. If the state had any real evidence he'd be locked up forever.

Even if the guy was caught on video tape and later confessed to the crime, there are very very few crimes for which the punishment is life in prison. So, your statement makes no sense.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by livetodream We have a situation where we've been looking at quite a few houses and feel like we've finally found a house that we both like with good schools and a good location and is not totally out of the price range because it hasn't already been fully remodeled so people aren't throwing down cash offers for it. BUT... a sex offender lives two doors down. According to online reports, he was convicted ten years ago of possession/control of obscene material depicting a minor and also sending/selling/distributing said material. So I guess I'm stating the charges because he wasn't convicted of harm against a child but of harboring this material. Meaning, I hope there would be a little less threat to my personal safety or the safety of the children we intend to have. However, to me, this is still a definite no, but my husband is kind of wavering on this, seeing as we feel like we've found THE house and we're tired of the process and all the disclosures check out and we were about to write an offer. So, opinions?

If it was me, I'd go ahead and buy the house. By the time you have kids and they are getting around the neighborhood, he may have moved.

If he has not moved by then, you may want to decide at that time if you want to keep the kids away from him or not. I would not invite him into my home with kids present, but in my case I am not at all likely to do that no matter who he is. I don't really party with my neighbors a whole lot.

[travelover]

It is the criminals that are not known that keep me up at night.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmm99 You may be talking about www.crimereports.com That's what I looked at when I was looking for housing in the bay area (Northern CA) years ago.

I knew about sex offender registry, but never thought of looking it up. Wow, indeed they are all over the place.

The question is how serious a crime a particular listed perpetrator has committed. The crime may be something serious as rape or molestation, or
"a second prostitution conviction, sending or receiving obscene content in the form of SMS text messages (sexting), ... public urination, having sex on a beach..."

Here's another Web site that has some classifications. It is still not clear to me, but it appears most are not violent criminals: Family Watchdog.

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by utrecht Even if the guy was caught on video tape and later confessed to the crime, there are very very few crimes for which the punishment is life in prison. So, your statement makes no sense.

It does to me!

The OP said the guy was caught with underage porn. Normally if you get the kiddy label sentencing can be the max allowed, granted maybe not life but still er, stiff sentence. Course I'm frequently full of it too.

Still wouldn't bother me, guy got caught and paid the piper. If he killed 3 others you'd never know, but this person carries a label for life. I'm much more wary of morons like my neighbor, never been in trouble, only because no one caught him.

[GypsyGrasshopper]

Child molesters, pedophiles, perverts - children molested by people you’d never think would do it – close family relatives, teachers, priests. We’ve all read about them but I doubt that anyone expects it to happen to their child. I have two friends that were sexually molested by a family member when they were children. I knew a middle school teacher who molested a 12-year old child. For me, “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t”. I know it’s a hard lesson to learn, but KNOWING that there are threats nearby can motivate parents to teach their children how to protect themselves from bad people wherever they may appear, not only in childhood but into adulthood as well.
I’d be creeped out by a man that I knew was a collector and distributor of child porn, but knowing who that person is provides one with an incentive to protect our children through education rather than having a fallible sense of security and then being blindsided by a local (Good Humor man/paperboy/candy store owner/soccer coach) child molester.

Since registered sex offenders are the first suspects in any sexually-oriented crime, your possible neighbor is probably the least of your worries. If the house is the right one for you wrt location, price, etc., I'd say buy it and understand that constant vigilence is the price of parenthood.

Good luck no matter what you choose.

[gauss]

And this is precisely the reason that I have never surfed any of the sites that would show "sex offenders" near me.

Don't want to know -- no good can come of it. Limit the opportunity for anxiety to creep into my consciousness.

My understanding is that violent crime in America is way down from the levels it was in the 70s when I was growing up.

-gauss

[devans0]

Have you considered talking to neighbors about problem people in the neighborhood? Perhaps ones with children?

[harley]

Like Senator, I know a guy who was convicted of receiving and sending child porn, and again, it was a tiny amount of his porn collection. He was a little pervy, but a nice enough fellow in general. He claims to not have realized the girls were underage, but who knows? I also know of a guy who was on trial for having sex with an underage girl. The woman I know that was on the jury said the girl told him she was 20, and she looked it, even though she was 15 (he was in his mid 20s, and was found not guilty). And a cousin of mine has a friend who ended up on the sexual offender list for urinating in public after a college football game (in an alley). Each of these people were either dumb or scuzzy, but none of them were/are dangerous. The list is fairly meaningless IMO. Even though I do have a kid and grandkids, I wouldn't avoid buying a house unless the list said the person was convicted of physically molesting a child. Even then it wouldn't be a deal breaker, just something to consider.

Of course, DW might feel completely different about it. And she'd gladly have all the golfers that pee in the woods behind our house arrested and put on the sex offender list.

[Texas Proud]

Here you can look up sex offenders.... I have not done it in a long time, but I doubt there is a single neighborhood that does not have multiple locations with one residing...


Also be aware that even if there was not one next to you when you bought, there is nothing preventing them from moving in the next day...


As others have mentioned, it kinda makes a difference in what they did... IOW, a BF and GF can have consensual sex but he is over 18 and she is younger and he get listed as a sex offender.... no problem here IMO...


Edit.... wow, just looked and there are NONE in my neighborhood.... there are a couple in the next neighborhood and a few more in the next ring, but not as many as I had seen when I looked many years ago...

I am surprised with how many got probation when their crime was with a minor....

Here is the link for Texas


https://records.txdps.state.tx.us/SexOffender/

[akck]

I'd bet that in many residential areas, you'll find a person on the list living within 1/4 mile of any house you'd be interested in. We bought our house many years before any list existed and over the years, there has never been a problem and yes, we have offenders within 1/4 mile. So, if you have kids, just be aware of their activities and friends. Being involved with them is the best way to keep them safe.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum