03:06 PM CST on Friday, December 30, 2005

Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Governors in states that accepted Hurricane Katrina evacuees are being urged to find registered sex offenders who fled the Gulf region.

AP

Wade Horn of the Department of Health and Human Services says sex offenders are less likely to offend again when they know they're being watched.

The agency matched the names of sex offender registries in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama with the names of evacuees who applied for disaster assistance. And it came up with more than 2,000 matches. The agency estimates about 30 states are affected.

A system has been developed with the Federal Emergency Management Agency that will allow state law enforcement to find registered sex offenders receiving disaster assistance.

Horn said in a November letter to Texas Governor Rick Perry that Texas law enforcement officials had already done a cross-check, and that it was the only state at that time which had.

Federal authorities told Texas of 304 known sex offenders who had relocated to the state. A spokesman for Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said 14 of those had registered and provided contact information to law enforcement.