Caught in a Neighborhood Web

"I have a family to protect," said Shuster, 39. "My original e-mail was to inform people."

Sex offender registries are designed to alert the public about possible threats in the neighborhood. Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) recently signed into law more stringent restrictions on punishing and monitoring sex offenders, and several other legislatures, including Maryland's, considered similar measures.

But the registries also have led to cases of mistaken identity and abuses since President Bill Clinton signed the 1996 law requiring states to keep tabs on sex offenders. Last month, two convicted sex offenders in Maine were tracked through the state's registry and shot to death.

Haskett's case of mistaken identity began in late March when he went to see his girlfriend in Summerfield, a housing development in New Market. The neighborhood was on edge from reports a month earlier about a strange car lurking in the cul-de-sacs.

Haskett was supposed to meet his girlfriend, Ali Huenger, 20, for dinner but arrived early. He said he knew her mother was home, but he was so tired that he worried he would fall asleep the moment he sat down. So he napped in his car down the street.

A few days later, Shuster sent her e-mail to neighbors: "Many of you have probably heard over the past month of an older gray box-style car that has been hanging out at odd times in Summerfield. He was seen again between Cairo and Emmaline last week around 4:30-5:00 p.m."

The e-mail said the license plate number was given to police and traced to Haskett. The e-mail also noted that the Maryland Sex Offender Registry showed Haskett living at the same Liberty Road address as Sanders, the convicted sex offender.

"He [Sanders] is most likely living with and borrowing this car from Haskett," the e-mail said. "Please pass on this e-mail to as many people as you know in this neighborhood."

Sanders was convicted of having sex with a 14-year-old boy in Mount Airy nearly six years ago and sentenced to five years' probation, Carroll County Circuit Court documents say.

"I moved because I was sick of being a moving target," Sanders, 41, said in an interview.

Law enforcement officials said he did not update his address until April 7, but there is no evidence that he borrowed Haskett's car or prowled the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, word of a possible child molester spread in Summerfield. Members of the community handed out fliers at Deer Crossing Elementary School. The local PTSA president was alerted.