10:12 PM CDT on Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Watch Russell Kinsaul’s report

(KMOV) - Missouri is about to enact tougher new penalties for sex offenders but none of those laws will stop offenders from living near schools.

KMOV

Despite existing restrictions on where registered sex offenders can live, News 4 found a surprising number near schools, and nothing can be done about it.

Herzog elementary school in north St. Louis is filled with energetic grade schoolers and surrounded by registered sex offenders.  

News 4 went to the address of a man, a registerd sex offender, convicted on two counts of child molestation, and then measured the distance from his house to the school.

Final distance: 173 feet from the home of a child molester to Herzog Elementary School.

An offender lives in an apartment building in Maplewood and after measuring with a rolling tape measure, News 4 discovered it's only 179 feet from an early childhood center and less than 600 feet from the Maplewood-Richmond Heights High School.

From Ballwin to Belleville, one can find convicted rapists and molesters living dangerously close to classrooms and school playgrounds.  

Laws forbid registered sex offenders from moving in less than 500 feet from schools in Illinois and 1000 feet in Missouri.

But News 4 was able to compile a list of more than 150 in the St. Louis metropolitan area who live inside those limits.

The list was compiled using the website Family Watchdog.

News 4 found a sex offender living 821 feet from a grade school in Arnold, 741 feet from a grade school in St. Charles, a cluster of three around Scruggs Elementary on South Grand and seven living less than a 1,000 feet from Northwest Middle School on Riverview.  

"We are very much aware that there are sexual offenders in neighborhoods around many of our schools," said St. Louis public schools director of security, Col. Charles McCrary.

And St. Louis public schools take precautions; including conducting all recesses indoors at some grade schools.  

"We have mobile patrol officers who are out everyday patrolling our schools,” added McCrary.

Schools and parents are advised to be on guard because, despite the high number of sex offenders living so close to schools, most are legally allowed to and can't be forced out because they established residency prior to the law, which took effect in 2004 in Missouri and 2000 in Illinois.

Some moved in since the laws were passed and live next to schools, but still fall within the guidelines of the law.

The close proximity of some sex offender to children on school playgrounds is a shocking reality to parents and teachers.

But few offenders News 4 tried to talk with would discuss why they moved so close to schools or their neighbors' concerns.

Some even pleaded ignorance of the law.

The registry research found 174 registered sex offenders metro wide, living within the boundaries around schools, 150 on the Missouri side and 24 on the Illinois side.

Here's how you can use Family Watchdog to learn who lives near your child's school.

Visit: Family Watchdog Website

- Enter the school's address.

- The dots on the map show where the registered sex offenders live.

- Click the school icon and in the box you'll see if there are sex offenders living within a 1,000 feet, their names, address, crimes and distance to the school.

Illinois sex offender website

Missouri sex offender website