A follow-up meeting to the March Boulder County Commissioners’ Boulder County Days was held at Heatherwood Elementary School on Tuesday, April 17. The April meeting was held to respond to the questions and concerns raised by local residents concerning registered sex offenders residing in the community.
 
Along with Boulder County Sheriff George Epp and Dr. Suzanne Bernhard of Colorado Abuse Intervention and Research Services (CAIRS), Boulder County District Attorney Mary Keenan, Diane Dileo, a supervisor with the Boulder County Probation Department, and Joe Thorne, Director of Boulder County Community Corrections, also attended.
 
Epp served as the facilitator and began the meeting with the history of federal and state sex offender legislation, including Colorado sexually violent predator definitions (CRS 18-3-414.5) and the community notification law (CRS 16-13-901) which according to Epp, "has some fairly narrow community notification mandates." 
 
These narrow constraints alarmed many residents who attended the March meeting and expressed concern about the safety of their children and themselves. According to Colorado law, only those designated as sexually violent predators are subject to community notification. Neither of the individuals currently residing at the Heatherwood home in question has been designated as such.  

At the March commissioners’ meeting, Epp further agreed to research what action the Sheriff’s department could take. "It was my belief that, as local law enforcement, I had the ability to do community notification… beyond what was defined by the sexually violent predator (statute). The community notification law as it came out of statute, and my review of it, is really more of an issue than I thought it was." 
 
Although current state laws prohibit local law enforcement from conducting community notification beyond what is prescribed by statute, sex offenders are also required to register with local law enforcement agencies and that registration information is free to the public and available at the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office at the Justice Center in Boulder. 
 
Another issue that was brought to light during the March meeting was the lack of updated or correct information on that list. During the last month, the sheriff’s office, the probation department and the treatment providers have worked in concert to update the registration list. As of the March meeting, there were 78 sex offenders registered as living in unincorporated Boulder County. With the work of all the departments, that list has been reduced to 46.
 
In addition to updating the sex offender registration, the sheriff’s department has developed a more comprehensive file that will be available to the public. The new file will contain the name, address, and photograph of the offender along with other information. The sheriff’s office also plans to have these files available at sheriffs’ substations within the next month.
 
Many of the residents attending both meetings questioned what could be done about those registered sex offenders already living in their area. Dr. Bernhard and Diane Dileo reviewed the current guidelines for approving a registered sex offender’s place of residence and agreed, that given the close proximity of Heatherwood Elementary School and other day care centers in the area, that the residence does not meet the criteria.
  
Although they cannot remove the individuals currently living in the home, both the Probation Department and CAIRS have agreed that when the current residential lease has expired, in approximately six months, the house will not be approved for any new residents or lease extension.
 
As Dr. Bernard stated, "These are not the only sex offenders living in this neighborhood. There are other registered sex offenders under other treatment programs living here." What should be of greater concern are those sex offenders who have never been caught. Less than 16 percent of all sexual assaults are ever reported and approximately 80 to 90 percent of all sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim such as a relative, friend or teacher.  

Epp and many of the other meeting participants encouraged anyone interested in finding out more about sex offenders and sex offender laws to go to the Colorado Department of Public Safety website at http://cdpsweb.state.co.us. This website provides an abundance of information about sex offender statistics, facts, information, helpful links and safety tips. 
 
The website also offers information on warning signs that a child has been abused and how to discuss sexual offenders with children. 

• Avoid scary details: Use language that is honest and age appropriate. Include general information that may protect them from others who would try to harm them.
• Teach your child: Don’t take rides from strangers, do tell a safe adult if anyone acts inappropriately and don’t keep secrets.
• Listen to your children and believe them: If a child feels listened to and believed about small everyday things, they are more likely to share the big scary things with you.
• Role-play safety with your child: Act out scenarios of various dangerous situations and teach them how to respond.