Twelve registered sex offenders live in the 92037 ZIP Code. One lives in La Jolla Shores. Eleven live in the Golden Triangle area. Lt. Rick O’Hanlon, who heads the sex crimes and child abuse unit for the San Diego Police Department, said that if residents want to see a sex offender, they can look close to home. “They come from every socio-economic background, ethnicity, age and occupation,” O’Hanlon said. “Some are married with kids.” Statistics show that 90 percent of sex offenders had some sort of relationship with their victims, O’Hanlon said. It’s more often a father, uncle or teacher who has molested a child than a stranger in a park. O’Hanlon briefed the La Jolla Town Council about sex offenders at the April 8 meeting. There are 1,393 registered sex offenders in the city of San Diego. Only one of them is classified as a sexually violent predator who is living downtown, according to O’Hanlon. A map of sex offenders living in the area can be seen at www.meganslaw.ca.gov. A name, photo, address and a description of the offense can be seen for some of the sex offenders. The public can search the map by name, address, ZIP Code, parks and schools. O’Hanlon’s one gripe with the website is that it doesn’t list the date of the offense. “Some of them convicted crimes 20, 30, 40 and even 60 years ago,” O’Hanlon said. There are 118,000 registered sex offenders in California, O’Hanlon said. Women comprise 4 percent of them, O’Hanlon said. Sex offenders released on parole are tracked with GPS devices in San Diego. There are 165 sex offenders in San Diego. Parolees cannot live near a school or park, nor have access to a computer. After parole, sex offenders can live anywhere and travel anywhere, O’Hanlon said. There are no restrictions. Sex offenders must only register their place of residence each year. It is also illegal for landlords or employers to discriminate against sex offenders for housing or jobs, O’Hanlon said. “Part of it is we want to know where they are,” O’Hanlon said. “One theory is that if there are too many restrictions, you drive them underground. If they register as transient, we have no idea where they are.” Jessica’s Law, which passed in 2006, imposed residential restrictions on sex offenders, but O’Hanlon said there is no enforcement provision attached to the law. “There’s no penalty attached,” O’Hanlon said. “Is it a felony? Do I write them a ticket?” Jessica’s Law also enacted tougher penalties for one-time offenders. Convicts who’ve molested one victim now face 15 years to life in jail. Parental advice O’Hanlon’s advice for parents is to keep an eye on people interacting with their children. “You’re your best own guardian,” O’Hanlon said. “If a little birdie is telling you, ‘I don’t like this,’ you need to ask the hard questions.” O’Hanlon monitors the interactions of his 14-year-old daughter by going through her phone and checking her MySpace page. He has also checked into the parents of her friends. Learning self-defense tactics and carrying mace on a keychain are also recommended.