SAN ANTONIO – The number of registered sex offenders in the area can be overwhelming.
"Bexar County is the largest county in the western district of Texas, as far as numbers of registered sex offenders and population," said Nicholas Rose, a senior inspector with the U.S. Marshals.
Tracking down sex offenders who have been convicted of a crime against a child is Rose's primary job.
"One of our responsibilities is to work hand-in-hand with state and local officers doing compliance checks. What the entails is any sex offender who is registered is on notice. Law enforcement officials can show up at their door anytime and check to make sure that the subject lives there," Rose said.
Rose says sex offenders are most often repeat offenders and some refuse to register.
"A lot of these offenders are maybe in a different state, (or a) different area of the country. They are living with family (and) are tired of registering, tired of having all the burdens placed on them with that," said Rose.
On the federal level, any sex offender who fails to register can face up to 10 years in prison.
"In San Antonio, we've opened, I think, over 140 cases on convicted sex offenders that maybe moved into Texas or out of Texas and failed to register and who are required to register. We have also submitted and successfully prosecuted over about 50 cases since 2012," Rose said.
If you want to see which registered sex offenders live near you, click this link.