To Notify or Not to Notify

Parents in a South Jersey community are afraid and angry. A convicted child molester has been living in their neighborhood for years but they never knew. He lives in Oakland, Camden.

The people in this neighborhood wanted to know why they were not warned about the guy who lived in their neighborhood who was convicted of molesting children. Then, he was arrested again two weeks ago, and now the people are really angry. Most of the people on the street incorrectly believe Megan's Law says you must notify people when a convicted child molester moves in. The truth is only in the worst cases can police go door to door. In most cases, they're only allowed to tell schools and youth groups.

One neighbor said, “I’m very upset. I have small children myself. Especially being on the main road going to school.”

“You think they should change the law?”

“Yes. Definitely.”

Another neighbor said, “I think people should be notified. There are a lot of kids in the neighborhood.

Both young and old in this neighborhood say the law has it all backwards. It seems that the criminals have more rights than the potential victims. Neighbors want victims’ rights to be taken care of as well.

Legally, 42-year-old Charles Walker got a free ride for 2 1/2 years on this street. His nextdoor neighbor all that time had no idea that the karate expert next door was a convicted molester of four young girls.

“He was a very quiet guy, you know—you wouldn't know it.”

Believe it or not, if the Oakland police went door to door to tell the people a child molester was living right there, they would have been breaking the law. Now, both the police and the neighbors are frustrated.

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