Schools' Computer Flags Sex Offenders

Even if the Raptor identifies a visitor as a sex offender, the person might be allowed to stay on school property depending on the state and the offense but must be chaperoned at all times by school officials. Administrators are alerted immediately through mobile electronic devices, and the sex offender is advised about the chaperon discreetly.

The Raptor, which is in nearly 4,000 schools nationwide, finds about 25 sex offenders each day entering schools, according to Allan Measom, president and chief executive of Raptor Technologies. Company technicians monitor the databases from a Houston office and call schools when a sex offender is found.

One Woodbridge sex offender who has a stepdaughter at Osbourne Park High School near Manassas said that when he heard about the Raptor, he was angry.

"I am concerned, not only for myself, but for her. It would be embarrassing for her, with everyone knowing the reason why they're stopping me," said the man, 44, who was convicted in 2000 for sexually abusing his ex-wife's underage daughter. "But it's in place for the right reason. I made a mistake, and it never seems to go away. It was a one-time thing."

Yesterday, Prince William school officials would permit reporters to see the Raptor only at Lake Ridge Elementary School, which has been using the program since the spring.

Carolyn McLain, an office assistant who works at the front of the Woodbridge school and checks in visitors, said that only one sex offender has ever shown up on campus. The man quickly left once he was informed that the school knew about his history. "He didn't take offense. He was a very pleasant man," she recalled.

Parents entering Lake Ridge yesterday praised the system. Lupita Flanigan, who dropped off some quesadillas and juice for her first-grade daughter, said the process for getting in and out of the school is much faster than having to wait in a line while everyone signs a log sheet. But some other parents elsewhere questioned whether the system was worth the $130,000 cost.

"I'd rather give my teachers more money in their paycheck," said Ellsworth Brown, whose daughter attends Enterprise Elementary School in Woodbridge. "Is there a credible enough threat of sex offenders trying to enter the schools to warrant this deployment?"