TN: Sex offender registry could grow; Bill adds people who lured minors.

March 5, 2002

By Christian Bottorff

An Internet site devoted entirely to showing the names, photos and addresses of convicted sex offenders could be expanded to include people convicted of luring minors for sex under a bill passed by the state Senate and advancing in the House.

The state's sexual offender registry now displays on a public Web site information about more than 1,100 felony sexual offenders such as rapists, child molesters and sexual batterers.

Authorities say that sex offenders are more likely to continue committing crimes, and they want to include the offense of soliciting sex from a minor as a way to keep communities informed.

"We'd like to see it added for the same reasons that other felony sex offenses are already on the registry," said Jeanne Broadwell, a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman. "This is for law enforcement to be aware of where people are and who they are, and in those instances where the information is made public, for the public to be aware."

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Source: © 2002 Tennessean.com