MEGAN'S LAW

Megan's Law is named after seven-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a known child molester who had moved across the street from the family without their knowledge.  In the wake of the tragedy, the Kanka's sought to have local communities warned about sex offenders in the area.

Use the link to California's Megan's Law to view photographs and descriptive information on sex offenders in California. It provides the offender's name, aliases, photograph, sex, physical description (including marks, scars, and tattoos), sex offenses, county and zip code information. The release of this information to the public is a means of assuring public protection and not to punish the offender. The information may not be used to harass the offender or commit any crime against the offender.

There are other aspects of the Megan's Law legislation that allow law enforcement to proactively notify schools and at-risk individuals (or their parents) of serious and high-risk sex offenders living near them if there is a reasonable suspicion that the offender poses a risk. An example could be a known child molester living in an apartment building with children present. In this example, law enforcement could notify the parents of "at-risk"    juveniles in the building of the registrant's status. These notifications would be on a case-by-case basis after law enforcement becomes aware of an offender living in proximity to at-risk persons.

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