Family Watchdog truly believes that "Awareness is your best defense". And with that being said, Family Watchdog wants you to be aware of the potential dangers around you and your family. We have been providing a search to see who is in your area for over 15 years - all free to the public. In addition to our free searches, we also publish monthly newsletters and blogs that have numerous safety topics in them from signs of child grooming, to how to stay safe in hazardous weather.

One of the scariest situations for parents to face is having their child become victimized by a sexual offender. Although current laws make it nearly impossible for convicted sex offenders to live or work near places where children congregate, that doesn’t change the fact that they can live in neighborhoods where families live. It also doesn’t change the fact that a sexual offender, even with proper supervision and treatment, can easily become a repeat offender. To protect your children, you need to know the statistics and learn the signs of child sexual abuse.

• Experts estimate that 1 in 10 children are sexually abused before their 18th birthday. ₍₃₎
• 30% of children are abused by family members. ₍₃₎
• As many as 60% are abused by people the family trusts. ₍₃₎
• About 35% of victims are 11 years old or younger. ₍₃₎
• Nearly 40% are abused by older or larger children. ₍₃₎

Sexual abuse has no “favorites” - it can happen to boys, girls, men and women of any age, race, looks, sexual preference or social status. Here are some additional sexual offender statistics:

• The total number of registered sex offenders that are currently in the United States: 747,000. ₍₁₎
• The state of Delaware has the highest rate of sex offenders, with a rate of 517 per 100,000 in general population. Pennsylvania has the lowest rate of sexual offenders: 94 per 100,000. ₍₁₎
• Only about 30% of rapes are ever reported to police. Research indicates that sex offenses are one of the most underreported crimes that happen. ₍₁₎
• The prevalence of false reporting for sexual assault crimes is low — between two percent and 10 percent. ₍₂₎
• Only 2.7% of the total number of sex offenders are estimated to commit another sex crime after being released from jail. ₍₁₎
• One in five women in the United States experienced completed or attempted rape during their lifetime. ₍₂₎
• Nearly a quarter (24.8%) of men in the U.S. experienced some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime. ₍₂₎

So what is Family Watchdog doing with those alarming statistics?
We invite you to use our free service to locate registered sex offenders in your area. Just enter an address and we'll show a map. You can click on the map icons that appear and see photos (where available) addresses, convictions and other information about the offenders on the map.

We also have a notification system! Our notification service is very simple. You specify addresses that you want to watch and the distance around those addresses. We do the rest. We can also monitor specific offenders as well. We update our data daily from multiple state sex offender registries. As soon as a convicted sex offender registers an address in your area, we will alert you. It's that easy.

So stay safe, stay aware and learn the signs of sexual abuse, sexual trauma, trafficking and stay ahead of the game. No longer be fearful of the world and the dangers that lurk, take matters into your own hands and be aware!

Sources:
- 37 Scarey Repeat Sex Offenders Statistics - HRF (healthresearchfunding.org) ₍₁₎
- Sexual Assault Statistics | National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) ₍₂₎
- Step 1: Learn the Facts - Facts About Child Sexual Abuse (d2l.org) ₍₃₎