Do you know if a sex offender is living in your neighborhood?

In Ohio, your local sheriff's department is only required to notify you if a sexual predator moves nearby. For example, Belmont County has 84 sex offenders, and only eight are predators. That means, about 90% of Belmont County's sex offenders do not require community notification. These offenders fall in the category of sexually oriented offenders and habitual sex offenders. In certain cases a judge can require notification for a habitual sex offender, but never for a sexually oriented offender.

The only way to find out if a sex offender lives near you is to log on to your state's sex offender database. Follow these links to learn more:

Ohio:

http://www.esorn.ag.state.oh.us/

West Virginia:

http://www.wvstatepolice.com/sexoff/

Jill Del Greco, NEWS9