Sex offender Web site in Maine rates low

A study of sex offender Web sites across the country ranks Wisconsin’s Web site the best for information.

Wisconsin’s law specifically requires that the data be posted online. It earned a 5.98 rating in the study, which used a 1 to 7 scoring scale.

Iowa’s site rated a 4, which was in the middle of the pack. Maine was given a 1.9 score, which tied it with 10 other states at the bottom of the scale.

The study was conducted by University of Florida’s Citizen Access Project.

Bill Chamberlin, director of the Florida group, said researchers found an overall lack of uniformity among registry laws and Web sites, which all 50 states were required to establish.

Wisconsin, Tennessee, Florida and Virginia require the most information on their Internet sites. Vermont, California, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska and New Hampshire require the least, the study concluded.

“These are not ratings about whether laws are good or bad,” Chamberlin said. “Our panel of experts can determine whether one law provides more access to sex offender information than another law.”

Chamberlain’s group decided to study the Web sites because of several court challenges. He said interest in the findings has soared in the wake of several high-profile child murders linked to sex offenders.