CALIFORNIA LOSES MORE THAN 30,000 SEX OFFENDERS

California has lost track of more than 33,000 convicted sex offenders, despite a law requiring rapists and child molesters to register each year for inclusion in the Megan's Law database.  Sex offenders are not checking in with law enforcement, which in most cases is a felony and many overworked police departments are not following up.  Margaret Moore, who until recently ran California's sex offender registry acknowledged, We don't know where they are.  The state does not know the whereabouts of at least 33,296 sex offenders, or 44% of the 76,350 who registered with the state at least once.  They vanished after registering.  It's not only in California, said Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law, a national victims' rights group.  We're expecting sex offenders to be reporting their addresses and that's the problem.  No one knows how many offenders never registered at all after leaving prison.  Failing to register could put high-risk offenders in jail for up to three more years, but most police departments are not enforcing the law.

(San Jose, California)