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By Greg Bartlett

In many different communities in several states, registered sex offenders are being required to wear GPS tracking bracelets or anklets so that police can track their whereabouts at all times. While initially intended to be a move toward ensuring the public safety in the event this is a repeat offender, these devices may also prove the innocence of an individual accused of certain crimes.

In a recent news article, one registered sex offender recently paroled from prison began acting in an erratic and suspicious manner. Police were made aware of this by a pattern of movements that very closely resembled the pattern of someone seeking something. They suspected he was looking for a victim, so they followed his movements closely. Within a little while, he attempted to abduct a woman in a secluded area. Police were able to move in and arrest him before he had time to do anything more serious than grope her. The evidence provided by the GPS device he was wearing was admitted against him in court and led to him receiving a life sentence as a repeat offender.

In another case that went the other direction, a seven year old girl was abducted from her home in the middle of the night. Her family knew that a registered sex offender lived not very far away because the law required them to be notified when he moved into their neighborhood. Naturally, the first suspect that came to mind was this individual. Fortunately for him, the bracelet that contained his GPS tracking device was of a nature that would have shown if he had tampered with it or tried to remove it.

There were no signs of tampering, and the GPS log for the night that little girl disappeared showed that he had never left his home. In fact, he had only left his bed once and traveled only the distance to his bathroom and back to bed. In this case, the most obvious suspect was completely exonerated by the evidence provided by GPS tracking. The police were able to change the direction of their investigation and find the guilty party, a teenager from another home in the neighborhood who turned out to be mentally disturbed.

The use of GPS tracking devices for known criminals, especially known sex offenders is becoming a more common practice. It has the power to allow police to watch suspected repeat offenders and can help to catch them before they finish an attack on another woman. It can also prove when the most obvious suspect because of his past history is innocent and reduce the number of men sent back to prison for things they did not do.