Local

Sex offenders not banned from living near school bus stops

MELBOURNE, Fla. — On Hickory Street in Melbourne there's a school bus stop where children are picked up and dropped off for Harbor City Elementary School.

One woman told Channel 9's Jeff Deal that she walks her daughter to the bus stop each day. She said she became alarmed when she started receiving notices in the mail that sex offenders have moved into her neighborhood.

State records show that there are three registered sex offenders and one registered sexual predator living in the apartment building that sits close to her daughter's bus stop.

"(It's) probably not even 100 feet. It's probably 50 feet. They're pretty close to the school bus stop," said the woman who did not want to be identified.

She said she recently moved to the neighborhood from out of state and became concerned when she was told that registered sex offenders and predators are not allowed to live within 1,000 feet of places where children congregate.

Under the law sex offenders are not allowed to move into a place within 1,000 feet of a school, day care, park, or playground. School bus stops are not included in that law.

The Melbourne Police Department has its own sex offender registration and tracking unit and says it keeps tabs on the sex offenders and works to make sure the community safe, but can't keep people from living where the law allows.