By Doug Fletcher,Staff Writer

Sex offenders in Maine have been included in a nationwide registry being put together by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Maine, along with Massachusetts and Missouri, are the most recent additions to the National Sex Offender Public Registry. They bring to 37 the number of states taking part in the registry. Sex offenders living in the the District of Columbia and on the territory of Guam also are listed.

The registry “provides real-time access to public sex-offender data nationwide with a single Internet search,” according to the Department of Justice.

Information on more than 500,000 registered sex offenders is available through the Web site.

“With the addition of each state to the registry, the capacity grows for parents and communities to be informed and aware of sex offenders residing in their neighborhoods. Maine’s efforts to further extend this invaluable tool nationwide are commendable,” said Regina B. Schofield, the assistant U.S. attorney general of Office of Justice Programs.

The registry was developed by the Department of Justice to link sex offender data from across the nation by creating a link to each participating state’s Web site, according to Steve McCausland, the spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

The national Web site allows Internet users to search by name, state, county, city or zip code. The national registry is also linked through the Maine Department of Public Safety’s sex offender Web site.

“Maine’s online sex offender registry has been a valuable information tool for Maine’s citizens,” said Michael P. Cantara, the state’s commissioner of public safety, in a statement announcing the move. “We are pleased that Maine is now linked to the National Sex Offender Public Registry. Linking to the national site is an important step that allows Maine to easily share information throughout the nation. The Maine registry is the most popular site on the state of Maine Web page with 200,000 hits a month.”

Maine’s Sex Offender Registry is maintained by state police. Col. Craig A. Poulin, the chief of the state police, said 1,939 Maine sex offenders are on the list. The Maine registry began in 1992 and went online in December 2003.

Poulin encouraged people to report sexual assaults to police immediately.

Poulin said Mainers can also find support services for victims and survivors through the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault. The group staffs a statewide toll-free hot line. The number is (800) 871-7741, or for the hearing impaired (888) 458-5599. Calls are confidential.



On the Web:

www.nsopr.gov; www.maine.gov/sor or www.mecasa.org

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