Since December 2003, the state of Maine has made sex offender listings available to the public via the Internet. Should the state take this Web site down? The answer is no. The sex offender listings allow parents to view these sex offenders’ profiles to determine if they are living in proximity to a sex offender.

Recently, two sex offenders were gunned down in Maine. In the three years that the Maine State Sex Offender Registry has been on the Internet, this is the first time someone has murdered a sex offender, although it has happened in other states. Sex crimes are committed every day. Two murders in three years does not compare to the number of sex crimes committed.

We should not let the murder of these sex offenders take away our right to know the whereabouts of sex offenders in our community. If the state wants to protect the sex offenders then it needs to impose longer prison sentences and not let them off with probation.

If sex offenders are in fear of their safety, they should have thought of that before they violated somebody’s mind, body and soul.

Pamela Marshall, Lewiston