The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department is joining a nationwide network tracking sexual predators with the launch of OffenderWatch.

The website will allow people to enter an address and search for sex offenders living nearby. The information is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is updated in real time by the department as offender information changes and is reported. As part of the service, people may enter any address of interest to them, such as home, work, a church, school or daycare, and see a map and a listing of all offenders within a user defined radius of that particular address.

People can also register their address to be continuously monitored by the sheriff's department, who will send to them an email alerting them if an offender or predator should register an address within that user defined radius. Users may confidentially register as many addresses as they like, at no cost to them.

"People have a right to know which offenders may be living near them, who potentially pose a threat to their families. We're happy to be able to provide that information," said Sheriff Adam Christianson.

The sheriff's department will also use OffenderWatch to verify that offender addresses do not violate any safety buffers that may be implemented around protected institutions in the county, such as schools, daycare facilities and parks. It also helps law enforcement schedule compliance checks, verifying information provided by offenders.

The community can access the OffenderWatch registry at the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department's sex offender search page at: http://www.sheriffalerts.com/ca/stanislaus.