BANGOR – Local school and public safety officials will be hosts for a public forum in the coming week to give parents an opportunity to learn about Maine’s sex offender registry and discuss safety precautions.

The informational session will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21, inside Peakes Auditorium at Bangor High School.

“We have been partnering with police on a number of different initiatives, and this happens to be one area that we identified,” Bangor Superintendent Betsy Webb said.

The forum is not a response to any specific incident or concern, but Police Chief Ronald Gastia said with more than 220 sex offenders living in Bangor, discussion is important.

“That number is only going to increase, and we already have a hard time keeping track of them all,” he said. “This is something we could see being problematic.”

Both Webb and Gastia said they don’t think parents or their children should panic or have heightened concerns.

“We do get calls once in a while where parents wonder what we’re doing to protect children and the community,” the chief said. “Sessions like these help make sure we’re all on the same page with the laws and what people can and can’t do.”

Webb said part of the forum would focus on how to access and search Maine’s online sex offender registry. Police also will discuss safety precautions for children, such as walking with a buddy.

Gastia said the reality is that police, and parents for that matter, cannot be everywhere.

“It’s not like we can put a bodyguard on every child,” he said.

Bangor, the third-largest community in Maine, not surprisingly has one of the state’s highest numbers of sex offenders.

Federal and state laws exist to preclude offenders from living within a certain distance from schools. While some communities have passed additional restrictions related to playgrounds and other gathering areas, Bangor is not one of them. Several pending lawsuits are challenging the legality of additional municipal restrictions.

Gastia said it’s important to remember that while sex offenders have to live with certain restrictions, they have rights as well.

“You can’t harass them and that’s the last thing we want to see,” he said. “But it’s incumbent upon us to ensure the safety of our community.”

erussell@bangordailynews.net

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