Ask Doug: bus stops & sex offender laws

Florida law is designed to keep sex offenders away from kids. That's why anybody arrested and convicted of a sex crime involving a child under 16 cannot live near a school, park, playground, or day care center. It's called the "unlawful place of residence" ... State Statute 794.065.

But if a sex offender was convicted before October of 2004, these restrictions don't apply. That's the way the law was passed by politicians in Tallahassee.

Here's something else that may surprise you. FOX 13 gets questions from viewers who are upset when a school bus stop is near the house or apartment of a registered sex offender. But there is nothing which makes this against the law. A sex offender can live at the very house the bus picks up or drops off your child.

The best advice for parents who are concerned is to contact the school district and ask if the bus stop can be moved.