Map of registered sex offenders for each state in the U.S. Colorado ranks 14th in the nation with 339 registered sex offenders for every 100,000 residents. (Greeley Tribune Graphics Department)

Colorado has a high number of registered sex offenders living in the state, according to a recently released study by ASecureLife.com.The study used data compiled by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to rank states by the number of registered sex offenders compared to overall population. Colorado came in 14th place with 19,030 total registered sex offenders, or 339 for every 100,000 residents.Susan Medina, spokeswoman for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, confirmed the numbers released by ASecureLife.com.[swift-infobox title="Colorado registered sex offenders by county"]

  1. Denver – 2,230
  2. El Paso – 2,062
  3. Jefferson – 1,415
  4. Adams – 1,385
  5. Arapahoe – 1,323
  6. Weld – 798

There are more than 19,000 registered sex offenders in the state, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.Source: Colorado's Sexual Offender Tracking and Registration database.[/swift-infobox]Though unrelated, the study was released within a couple days of a routine check-in with registered sex offenders living in town by Greeley police, local probation and parole officers, and the U.S. Marshals Service. Greeley's Sex Offender Registration Office conducts routine checks throughout the year, said Detective Mark Stumpf, Greeley's sex offender investigator. Local agencies also partner on large-scale sweeps at least twice per year.When the most recent operation was over, officers knocked on 260 doors, spoke with 177 registered sex offenders and were able to verify 175 of them were residing at their designated addresses. One person was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm. Another, who was in compliance on a Weld County case, was arrested for not updating his address on an older Larimer County case, Stumpf said.The operation focused on 260 of Greeley's 360 registered sex offenders. There are 798 registered sex offenders in Weld as a whole, according to the Sexual Offender Tracking And Registration database, ranking it sixth-highest among Colorado counties.Though local law and order officials say the number of sexual assault crimes isn't on the rise, the number of registered sex offenders is. They blame a variety of factors on the burgeoning sex offender registry both locally and throughout the state, including population growth, the number of sex offenders released early from prison, stricter registration requirements for offenders and more sophisticated investigation tactics by police.So far this year, the Weld District Attorney's Office has filed 41 felony sexual assault cases, which include both adult and child victims. After pulling the data, Weld District Attorney Michael Rourke was surprised to learn there have been 13 fewer felony sexual assault filings this year compared with the same time last year.Of the 54 cases filed last year, half remain open. All 41 cases filed so far this year also remain open. At any given time, Rourke estimates his office has between 130-140 open sexual assault cases."That's because sex assault cases are some of the toughest to investigate and some of the hardest to resolve," Rourke said. "I don't get the sense we have more reported sex assault crimes, but one of the reasons we have more registered sex offenders here and elsewhere in the state is pre-1998 there weren't any lifetime sex offender registration requirements."In other words, someone convicted of a sex crime before 1998 would have been ordered to register as a sex offender for a specific amount of time as part of his or her sentence. Offenders also could petition to be removed from the registry and because the burden wasn't as high as it is today, a lot of those requests were granted."You had a lot more people coming off the registry than going on," Rourke said. "Now judges have the option to sentence someone to the registry for life, and it's a lot harder to petition to get off."On the law enforcement side, Lt. Roy Smith, commander of the Investigations Unit at Greeley police, said technology has been both a blessing and a curse in regards to sex crimes. On the one hand, technology has made it easier to access illegal content, such as child pornography. Additionally, social media and dating websites provide the perfect hunting ground for sexual predators.But technology also has made it easier for officers to locate, investigate and arrest sexual offenders. And although it's one of the hardest jobs in law enforcement, Smith said the six detectives he has working persons crimes are some of the best in the department.

Mascarenas

There's also a lot more cooperation among local agencies and even national organizations than there was in the past, Smith said. He noted the recent arrest of 21-year-old Transito Tomas Mascarenas, who was booked into Weld County Jail earlier this month on suspicion of possession of child pornography on his cellphone.Greeley police were tipped off about Mascarenas in April when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported someone with a Greeley IP address uploaded child pornography to YouTube."Back when I was a detective, you were looking for the guy with the shoebox full of photos," Smith said. "Now you have the guy who not only has the zip drive full of child pornography, but also shares it on the internet."It's so much easier to track now and so many people are watching out for it. Eventually, somebody (in law enforcement) is going to find it." – Joe Moylan covers crime and public safety for The Greeley Tribune. Reach him at jmoylan@greeleytribune.com, (970) 392-4467 or on Twitter @JoeMoylan.