The faces and addresses of Eugene’s 17 registered sexual offenders are now listed online next to a bright red tag that says “predator,” in an online database available to anyone with Internet access at http://sexoffenders.oregon.gov.
Their crimes include sexual abuse, sodomy and rape, and live all over the city, including three who live within a block of campus and five within a mile.
One of Eugene’s sex offenders “kidnapped, raped and sodomized a female hitchhiker,” and “stalks adult females while under the influence of methamphetamine and then forcibly rapes.”
Launched on July 1, the Department of the Oregon State Police Sex Offender Registration Web site lists a personal profile for each predator in the state, displaying each one’s picture, physical characteristics, crimes and restrictions.
Their offenses range from as early as 1974 to as recent as 2000 and from as few as one to as many as six. Their restrictions
range from a ban from being in proximity to their victims to a ban from being in proximity to all children or from all places
that serve alcohol as their primary product.
Nancy Laundry, an administrative specialist for the Oregon State Police, said the site provides law enforcement agencies an easy opportunity to notify community members of predators in their areas.
She said the site displays only people who have been convicted of serious sex crimes and who are more likely to re-offend.
Laundry said some predators convicted of lesser felonies can petition courts to get their designations removed, but for those
convicted of rape, sodomy or sexual abuse, they are predators until they die.
“Registration is for life,” Laundry said.
That life can often prove difficult, Laundry said, because “it is difficult for (predators) to have a job or find housing.”
Nick Hedberg, a University senior who lives on the same block as a predator, said “It’s kinda eerie.”
Hedberg, a single man with no children, said he does not feel threatened and is glad the information is readily available.
“If I had a younger brother or younger sister of young kids I would be more wary,” Hedberg said.
Joseph Leary, a University senior who lived in the same apartment complex as a predator of pre-pubescent males, said “It’s great that this list is available.”
Leary, also single man with no children, said he was not afraid of the predator specifically, but that he avoids some people for his own safety.
“It’s pretty upsetting, but it’s not surprising in a place like this,” Leary said, referring to his proximity to the predator. “Eugene’s a pretty weird place as it is.”
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