Background on Registered Sex Offender Laws

The U.S. Congress and individual states have passed various laws that require states to monitor registered sex offenders. These laws include but are not limited to, the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children Act, the Pam Lychner Sex Offender Tracking and Identification Act, and Megan's Law.

On March 5, 2003, The Supreme Court rules that information about posting registered sex offenders on the Internet.

Important Stats

Every 8 minutes, Child Protective Services finds evidence for or substantiated, a claim of child sexual abuse.

One in 9 girls and 1 in 53 boys under the age of 18 experience sexual abuse or assault at the hands of an adult.

Females ages 16-19 are four times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault.

The majority of sexual assaults occur at or near the victim's home. What was the survivor doing when the crime occurred?

• 48% were sleeping, or performing another activity at home
• 29% were traveling to and from work or school, or traveling to shop or run errands
• 12% were working
• 7% were attending school
• 5% were doing an unknown or other activity

Of sexual abuse cases reported to law enforcement, 93% of juvenile victims knew the perpetrator:

• 59% were acquaintances
• 34% were family members
• 7% were strangers to the victim

More than 50% of all alleged rapists have at least one prior conviction.

Source: RAINN

RegisteredOffenderList.org is a single source to learn about each state's laws and rules about sex offenders, convictions requiring registration, and public access to sex offender information.