I know it's been a while since I've posted but I read something today that really moved me to post.

I still get the newspaper from my hometown - even though I haven't lived there in a very long time. Front page of yesterday's paper was "Convicted Level 3 Sex Offender Rapes 6-year old in Public Library".

In the public library. A place where I always felt safe.

I used to take my kids to the library and drop them off in the children's room while I went to look for my books. We've been a gazillion times. My kids know the library like they know their own homes. I never felt they were in danger there. It's large, it's open, you can see the first floor from the second or third. I was wrong.

I've said this many times, having a sex offender registry that allows us to know if a sex offender lives in our neighborhood does not keep our children safe. It only tells us about the ones that have been caught. Does this mean we now need to know not only where they live but where they hang out? No. It means we have to stay just as on guard with our children as if we didn't know where they lived. Sex offenders are everywhere. Not all of them are on the registry.

Why am I writing this here?

Because I know many agents have links to the registry on their Web sites. I think that's giving people a false sense of security. One time, during an open house, a potential buyer pointed to a home down the street and said, "a sex offender lives there". So I pointed to three other houses and said, "does that mean no sex offenders live in those houses?". He bought the house.