By Karen Gutierrez
Enquirer staff writer

Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky residents are getting recorded calls from a company selling data about sexual predators in their neighborhoods.

Kentucky and Ohio already provide the information at no cost.

"I would hope our folks in Kentucky would go to our site and not be charged for something they can get for free," Kentucky State Police Capt. Brad Bates said.

The California-based company, the United States Protection and Care Society, bills itself as a nonprofit organization. It is registered as such with the California secretary of state, records show. But the company is not listed with the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt charity, an IRS spokesperson said.

No one from the company could be reached. A phone message was left at the number on its Web site.

In the recorded calls, a voice identifies the company as nonprofit and says, "We've identified sexual predators in your area. Press 'one' to find out how many sexual predators live in your ZIP code."

Listeners are then told the number of predators and directed to a Web site, zipcodealert.com. They must pay $19.95 to see the complete list of offenders, their photos, addresses and convictions.

The Web site's technology and content is supplied by a Florida company called National Alert. Spokesman Jerry Klein said the company buys sex offender information from all 50 states every 15 days and combines it with a mapping feature that allows people to instantly see where convicts live.

Customers also can sign up to receive e-mail alerts anytime a new offender moves in.

Some states don't offer such alerts, nor do they have convenient electronic databases, Klein said.

Kentucky and Ohio do, however.

Under federal law, residents must be notified of convicted sex offenders in their communities. Kentucky and Ohio agencies operate Web sites that include all the information being sold by the Protection and Aid Society except the mapping feature.

It's not illegal for companies to sell public data, and no complaints about the Protection and Care Society have been made to the attorneys general in Kentucky or Ohio.

But a woman did call the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office to say she thought the company had given an inaccurate number of predators for her area, said sheriff's spokesman Steve Barnett.

The woman did not make a formal complaint, and the sheriff's office did not investigate.

"I think they're profiting off, maybe, people's lack of knowledge that this information is available for free," Barnett said.

State registries of sex offenders

Information about sex offenders in Kentucky can be found online at http://kspsor.state.ky.us/. Residents can also register to receive free phone alerts when offenders arrive in a specific ZIP code by calling (866) 564-5652.

In Ohio, sex-offender information is available online at http://www.esorn.ag.state.oh.us/. Through the site, residents can request free e-mail alerts when a sex offender moves nearby. County sheriff's offices can also provide information about sex offenders.

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E-mail kgutierrez@enquirer.com