That's why San Jose police Sgt. Ted Marfia wants to take every opportunity to speak to schools, clubs or community groups about preventing sexual assault, a timely effort with April being Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

"Unless someone like Cary Verse brings it to their attention, people don't understand that they need to know about sexual assault," Marfia said. "People don't want to talk about the issue, but it's so damaging to our lives."

Marfia is one of the supervisors on the Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement task force in Santa Clara County known as S.A.F.E. The task force—created in 1994—monitors, tracks and apprehends sexual offenders, assists other law enforcement agencies in investigating sexual offenders, and educates the community on recognizing predatory behavior.

The task force is staffed by members of the San Jose and Santa Clara police departments, the state departments of Parole and Justice, district attorney investigators, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the California Highway Patrol.

As word gets out about S.A.F.E., more schools and community groups are inviting the task force to make presentations.

In March, Schallenberger Home and School Association President Valerie Hayes asked Marfia to speak to parents at an association meeting about ways to protect their children.

It was particularly timely after the arrest in February of Willow Glen resident Brian Jerome Armstrong on child pornography charges. He lived on Willow Tree Court and was a bus driver for the San Jose Unified School district.

"It's been a hot subject lately in Willow Glen, so people were eager to hear what they're doing," Hayes said. "It was helpful for those who went."

The response was so positive that Marfia was asked to speak at a San Jose Unified School District meeting for the district's principals.

The key to raising awareness rather than creating paranoia, Marfia said, is presenting the factual information, which the task force does through educational brochures and providing contact information.

It was calling the task force that eased the concerns of one resident, after watching a man repeatedly sitting in his car at a school, said S.A.F.E. task force supervisor Santa Clara County sheriff Sgt. Blayn Persiani. When the task force's members determined the man in the car was a parent, they were able to put the woman's mind at ease, Persiani said.

Persiani added that residents in good neighborhoods are often less aware of the dangers, but sexual predators are often transitory and look for vulnerable areas.

Marfia said he is hoping to use the 10-year milestone mark of the department's inception to bring more awareness and hold more educational forums for the public to learn how to identify sexual predator behavior and what to do about it. Authorities believe only one-third of sexual assault crimes are reported.

Marfia said that sexual offenders have a lifetime requirement to register their addresses with local officials. Sex offenders have the highest rate of repeat offenses. These individuals are classified into three categories: high-risk, those who have been convicted of multiple violent crimes; serious, those convicted of such felonies as rape or child molestation; and "other," those whose convictions include pornography, exhibitionism or other sexually related offenses. Currently, only high-risk offenders are listed on law enforcement websites. Limited information on offenders in the serious or "other" categories can be obtained by visiting local police stations.

Marfia added that the 95125 ZIP code has one high-risk offender, 64 serious and 25 "other."

San Jose police Sgt. Ron Helder said that the number of visitors to the San Jose Police Department website since the Megan's Law database went online in December 2003 has been close to 25,000.

"We're very pleased with that," Helder said. "It makes a big difference."

Marfia said that the California State Assembly passed legislation in January to make all categories of sexual offenders information available to the public, but the bill has been stuck in the Senate because of concerns over privacy rights.

But the good news is that the San Jose Police Department and the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department have been leaders in establishing enforcement teams. Besides the S.A.F.E. task force, the San Jose police created the "290 team," the code name for the Sex Registration Enforcement Team, established in 1996.

"Our S.A.F.E. task force and the 290 team model are models for the nation," Marfia said. "We are the first county to develop this type of program. We've become the model for programs in Alameda, San Diego, Los Angeles and Dallas, Texas."

And the 290 team also wants to reach out to the public with prevention education. After interviewing pedophiles, San Jose detective Frank Swaringen partnered with Child Quest International to create the child safety video Milk Cartons: The Way Back Home in 1997. The 30-minute movie stars ABC's Home Improvement's Taran Noah Smith and combines safety tips with entertainment.

When a high-risk sex offender moves into an area, the 290 team tries to go door-to-door notifying residents that they live within a half-mile radius from the individual, Swaringen said, and to help the situation, the police can hand residents the video.

The 290 team deals only with sexual registrants in San Jose, while the S.A.F.E. task force handles investigations across Santa Clara County.

"We ensure we're not working on the same individual so we're not wasting resources," Marfia said.

He added that in these times of tight budgets, law enforcement agencies have a greater commitment to pool their resources.

"It's not about being paranoid, it's about being smart," Marfia said.

To view the high-risk sexual offender list, visit www.sjpd.org. For information about the S.A.F.E. task force presentations or brochures, call 408.808.4300 or email safetaskforce@sho.co.scl.ca.us. To obtain a copy of the child safety video "Milk Cartons: The Way Back Home," call 408.277.4102.

Staff writer Anne Ward Ernst contributed to the story.