Скачать или смотреть NewsWest 9 Special Report: The Sex Offender Boom

Hardly a week goes by without someone making the news for committing a sex crime.

Many times it's a crime against a child.

While law enforcement officers are working hard to catch sex offenders, what happens after the crime has been committed?

NewsWest 9 has reported on a number of sex crimes against children and it's always alarming, particularly when the person accused is in a position of authority and trust, a police officer, military recruiter or a teacher.

But once a sex offender has been caught and convicted, what happens next? Are there safeguards in place to protect families and to keep it from happening again?

It's an important question because as the population continues to grow in the Permian Basin, so does the number of sex offenders who live here.

In fact, the Texas Department of Public Safety's Sex Offender Registry, a website by the way that anyone can access, shows that there are about 650 registered offenders in Ector and Midland counties combined.

On the website, you'll find more than just a name, an age and a picture.

It also includes details about the crime, the level of risk the offender may pose to the community, where they work and where they live.

We also discovered that there are very few restrictions on where a registered sex offender may be employed.

In some cases, they could be working at jobs that bring them right into your home.