By Nathan Hardin
nhardin@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY ó The Rowan County Sheriffís Office is changing how it keeps track of the countyís registered sex offenders after discovering that two lived near a school and a day care.
Sheriffís Office Capt. John Sifford said the agency previously used online programs like MapQuest to check the areas around where sex offenders lived, but deputies will now be physically going to registered addresses to check for violations.
ěPreviously, the detectives would use a function on the computer which asked for any day cares or schools,î Sifford said.
That changed when deputies were notified this week that Bryan Oneal Taylor, arrested last week on charges that include selling drugs near a school, is a registered sex offender.
Taylor listed his address in the arrest report as 923 S. Caldwell Drive, across the street from Salisbury High School, but he is no longer living there. Detectives are investigating the alleged violation.
Sifford also said detectives investigated Adrian Green, a Spencer resident and convicted sex offender who was asked this week to move when authorities learned he was living less than a block from a day care center.
ěOur investigators made contact with him,î Sifford said. ěHe is in violation and will be moving to conform with the present law.î
Green, of 118 10th St. in Spencer, was convicted in 2004 on two counts of indecent liberties with a minor in Guilford County.
State law prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools and day care centers.
The Sheriffís Office monitors 305 registered sex offenders across the county and handles registration and address changes for other local law enforcement agencies.
ěThe new policy is that anytime we do an initial registration or an address change, then an officer will personally go out to that location and make sure there are no violations,î Sifford said.
The Sheriffís Office continues to monitor sex offenders between location changes and registration updates, Sifford said.
ěEach week, we have four patrol squads. Each squad is given three sex offenders that each are responsible for,î Sifford said. ěSo 48 to 50 per month are personally checked on.î