Whether you’re looking for a new neighborhood to live in, there are a wide variety of important factors to consider: entertainment options, the quality of schools, professional opportunities, and even the crime rate. However, before making any significant moving plans, one type of search should never be neglected: the search for sex offenders and sexual predators in Florida. Below, we will go over the definition of a sex offender, how you can find out if there are sex offenders or predators in your area, and even some statistics concerning sex offenders in the state of Florida.
How are sex offenders defined?
The full list of laws and regulations of Florida that deal with sex offenders and sex crimes can be found at the website of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement here: http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/FloridaLaws.jsp. If the legislation surrounding sex crimes needed to be summarized, it would be that a sex offender is an individual who committed a crime in which a sexual act was a primary concern.
This, obviously, covers a wide variety of different kinds of offenses and crimes, such as sexual assault, rape, public indecency, sexual harassment, and of course, the most grievous of sexual misconduct acts, sexual assault against a minor.
If an individual committed a crime that has been deemed a sex crime, then they are required, depending on the nature of their sentencing, to register with the Florida Sex Offender Registry.
How are sexual predators and sex offenders different?
Often, sex offenders can be people that made a mistake. Persons convicted of statutory rape, such as an eighteen year old having sex with a sixteen year old, will often receive sex offender, but not sexual predator, status. Broadly speaking, sex offenders are individuals whose crimes were not intended to harm the victim, whereas sexual predators are those criminals whom intended to harm their victim in some way.
Where can I find information about the Florida Sex Offender Registry?
You can locate the homepage of the Florida Sex Offenders and Predators page of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement at http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/homepage.do. Here, you can find further details about sex offenders and sexual predators in Florida, as well as links to a variety of services that the FDLE provides. You can also find a listing of the sex offender registries of each state in the country at https://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/Registries.jsp.
There are two primary tools used for locating sex offenders and sexual predators in Florida. The first, located at https://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/offenderSearchNav.do?link=advanced, will search the entire state according to whatever criteria you input. Results will detail the names and pictures of criminals, as well as details about their conviction and the crime they were convicted of.
The second, located at https://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/searchNeighborhood.do?actionPerformed=neighborhoodSearchMain, is used to search for neighborhoods within the state of Florida, and the sexual predator/sex offender density in that area. This tool is highly useful if you are looking to relocate your family and need to know the status of sex crimes in the area.
Some secondary resources that may be useful to you when looking for criminals or other types of arrest information in Florida are the Offender Information Search tool provided by the Florida Department of Corrections at http://www.dc.state.fl.us/AppCommon/. This can be useful for locating prisoners within the state of Florida. You can also perform a full criminal background search of individuals at https://web.fdle.state.fl.us/search/app/default?0, although this service costs $24.
A Wanted Persons search is also available through the FDLE at http://pas.fdle.state.fl.us/pas/person/displayWantedPersonsSearch.a. This tool will allow you to see all of the persons currently wanted for being suspected of criminal activities in the state of Florida.
Florida Sex Offender Statistics
In the state of Florida, there is one forcible sex offense every 53 minutes, and one forcible rape every hour and 38 minutes. This information comes courtesy of the 2010 Crime Clock, provided by the FDLE at http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/cms/FSAC/UCR/2010/CIF_Annual10.aspx.
You can find a spreadsheet that details all of the arrests made, by county, during the year 2010 at http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/cms/FSAC/County-Profiles-%281%29.aspx. This can be an extraordinarily useful tool for determining the safety and police presence of different counties within Florida. You can also use a web version of this tool at http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/cms/Home.aspx.
In 2010, there were a total of 9,885 forcible sexual offenses statewide, with 5,369 total rapes, according to a statewide survey of crimes in Florida by the FDLE. You can locate this report at http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/cms/FSAC/Documents/Excel/offcty_index10.aspx.