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Megan's Law
The History of Megan's Law
In 1995, a convicted child molester was arrested for
the rape and murder of 7-year-old Megan Kanka in a New Jersey suburb. The
offender lived right across the street from the Kanka home, but the Police
Department was prohibited from disclosing the presence of this child molester
because the law did not allow the release of sex offender information to the
public.
The law, dubbed "Megan's Law," was
changed to permit the release of this information to the public. California's
version of Megan's Law went into effect on September 25, 1996. This law was
implemented to allow viewing of sex offender information in order to allow
potential victims to protect themselves and parents to protect their children.
 As
of December of 2004, the public can now access Megan's Law information via the
Internet from http://meganslaw.ca.gov/.
For more information on Megan's Law, check out
the Department of Justice website.
Viewing
The Megan's Law CD-ROM provides a means to obtain information on the more
than 64,000 serious sex offenders living in California. It provides
information such as: the registrant's name, aliases, photograph (if
available), sex, physical description (including scars, marks and tattoos), the
offenses for which the registrant is registering, the county of residence and
the ZIP code of residence (based on last registration). It does not
include addresses or telephone numbers.
To view the CD-ROM, you must:
- be 18 years of age or older; or accompanied by
parent or legal guardian;
- provide a California driver's license or
identification card
- sign a statement that you are not a registered
sex offender; that you understand the purpose of the release of information
is in order for the public to protect themselves and their children from sex
offenders; and that it is illegal to use the information to harass,
discriminate or commit a crime against any registrant.
The Megan's Law CD is available for viewing at the
following locations/times:
Investigative Services Division
600 10th Street, 2nd Floor
Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, 8 am until 4 pm
Convicted sex offender information is updated on a daily basis. Megan's Law info
is
accessible to the public in the following languages: Arabic, Armenian,
Cambodian, Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish,
Tagalog and Vietnamese.
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Modesto, CA 95354