Sex offenders watched by public, police
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

It's up to the public to keep an eye on registered sex offenders who might live nearby.

A search of the state's sex offender database shows there are at least 96 registered sex offenders living in Wharton County, scattered throughout the county with 34 residing in Wharton, 30 in El Campo, seven in East Bernard, five in Jones Creek, four each in Boling and Hungerford, three each in Danevang, Glen Flora and Louise, two in Egypt and one in Iago.

Deputy Elaine Smith-Drexler, who among other duties has dealt with sex offenders for the sheriff's office since 1999, said there's only so much law enforcers can do, especially during times when children are especially vulnerable, such as the recent Halloween holiday.

While the offenders have rules to abide by, nothing keeps them from wandering about on such holidays.

"They're on probation or parole restrictions on what they can do, but state law doesn't restrict them from doing anything," she said. "Only their probation or parole restrictions can do that. Some cities have ordinances restricting where they can be, but I'm not aware of any in these areas."

El Campo Police Officer Cindy Howell said it's true parents have the ultimate responsibility for protecting their children.

"We do not have the manpower to go to all their homes," she said. "Hopefully, parents will watch their children."

Smith-Drexler said manpower is an issue for the sheriff's office as well.

"We don't have that a whole lot either," she said, but that's no reason for parents to panic. There haven't been reports of sex offenders targeting children on childfriendly holidays like Halloween that she can recall.

"If there is, it hasn't been reported to me," she said.

Wharton County law enforcers don't have a particular program "where we knock on doors and say, 'You don't do this,'" during holidays or other times, but the registered sex offenders do know what their limits are, Smith-Drexler said.

"I deal with mine on a one-on-one basis and I tell them, 'You mess up, you go to jail, period,'" she said.

The Department of Public Safety's statewide sexual offender database is available to the public at https:// records.txdps.state.tx.us/DPS_WEB/Sor/index.aspx, and parents can find out the street addresses of nearby offenders by searching zip codes.