Sex Offender Sues Va. to Keep Name off Web

The agency, which administers the registry, is also creating a 45-member unit dedicated to ensuring that all sex offenders comply with the law. Turner estimates that at any time, 1,300 sex offenders are noncompliant, and his office often fields "outraged" calls from people reporting an offender in their community.

"It's not a matter of wanting to know," Turner said. "They are demanding to know."

Randi Lanzafama, deputy chief probation and parole officer for Prince William, said that even before the new regulations, her office had treated nonviolent sex offenders the same as violent ones.

"Everybody wants to know, 'Are these guys never going to re-offend?' " she said. "I can't ever say they won't. But I believe in what we do, and I believe we give them the opportunity to change, if they want to."

Doe pleaded guilty to incest in February 1994. According to an arrest warrant at the time, his sister told police that for seven years she and her brother had engaged in a variety of sexual acts, including intercourse.

In April 1994, a judge sentenced Doe to 90 days in jail, with all of it suspended if he stayed out of trouble and got counseling. In March 1995, Doe fulfilled his obligations and was released from probation.

Doe's sister wrote a letter of support for her brother to Prince William Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert, saying that she and her brother received counseling and that she is doing well in life. She is a lawyer and is married with two young children.

"We have resolved our issues and maintain a close relationship often sharing in large family holidays and vacations," she wrote of her brother in May. "He is an important part of my family."

She described him as an "excellent uncle" to her children, saying she doesn't fear leaving them with him.

"I have healed from what happened to me as a child and continue to grow despite it," she wrote.

Their mother also wrote a letter, saying the two "enjoy a normal brother sister relationship in the family."