Sex offenders too close

Hundreds of day care centers across Illinois and one in every four in Chicago have child sex offenders living within 500 feet of their doors -- despite a state law designed to keep them further away, according to a report published Monday. The Belleville News-Democrat said it investigated more than 4,000 day care centers statewide, using an online registry maintained by state police, and found that 786 had at least one registered sex offender within 500 feet. The newspaper said the intent of the 2006 law has been thwarted partly because it was worded in such a way that it fails to cover home day care, which accounts for 74 percent of the state's licensed day care centers. The News-Democrat said police would have trouble enforcing the law even if it covered the home day care centers, since the state agency doesn't give them updated day-care addresses. Informed of the investigation's findings, Department of Children and Family Services spokesman Kendall Marlowe said it was working to address the situation and might develop an online program that could be updated daily for police. "You've identified a gap in communication between DCFS and local law enforcement that we will now correct," he told the News-Democrat. The investigation found that in Chicago, 673 of 2,847 day care centers examined were less than 500 feet from the address of a child sex offender. Of the 594 sex offenders found, 268 victimized children 13 years or younger.