Reply #35: It's like this...

[Orrex]

As soon as the girl disappeared, we had reports of just how many sex offenders lived within a certain radius of her house. There was no indication that any of them were involved or even that they were remotely relevant to the case, but the news still had to trot them out to maximize the horror and sensationalism.

Then we find out that a young mother and Sunday school teacher is the prime suspect, and, as you point out, she had no "sex offender record."

Therefore the limitations of such a registry--already criticized elsewhere for being non-specific, non-standardized, and not subject to appeal--are shown pretty plainly, I think. Society's favorite bogeymen are a great way to generate sympathy and interest, even when they have nothing to do with the case at hand.