MASON CITY, IA - 4,745. It's the number of registered sex offenders living in Iowa. Nearly fifty of those, call Cerro Gordo County home.
Chief Deputy Dave Hepperly noted, "I would venture to say most people have no idea how many sex offenders there would be in Cerro Gordo County, let alone in their own neighborhood."
Iowa's Department of Public Safety is trying to make the information easier to find, and understand. Now it only takes a few clicks to see exactly who is living on your street.
With their new website, all you have to do is type in your address or zip code, and you'll get a map of every sex offender living in your neighborhood.
From there, you can click on the individual people to see their picture, and their address.
"It's information that you should want to have as far as protecting yourself and your family members," said Hepperly.
Iowa's sex offender registry is updated every hour. It allows you keep tabs on a registered offender. There are also clear facts about each offender's living and employment restrictions, including who can and cannot spend time around children.
Hepperly said, "I think it's a false conception that people have that all sex offenders must not be within the certain amount of schools, parks, etc. It all depends on the type of conviction they have."
Overall, Hepperly himself was impressed by the new site. He believes its a great tool every family should use.
Minnesota's Department of Corrections only provides easy access to the locations of the worst offenders. You can get only info about all offenders in Minnesota if you know their name or birthdate.
