As Part of our Free subscription, you can:

• View the interactive map showing you and your family’s locations
• Find registered sex offenders in your area
• Search the registry by name, address, or view proximity to family members on the map
• See detailed profiles on any registered sex offender in your area
• List locations for monitoring
• Receive alerts when child leaves or arrives at listed locations
• Contact local law enforcement in the event of an emergency
• Browse content for tips and advice on how to talk to your child about sex offenders
• Be notified in the event a new sex offender moves into your neighborhood.

While access to the app and sex offender registry is free, a Family Watch subscription provides access to our premium safety monitoring features at just $4.99 per month for the entire family. Those features include:

• Device monitoring
• Watch list of people who should not be contacting your child
• Receive alerts if your child:
  • arrives or departs locations (home, school, work, etc.)
  • is contacted by someone on your watch list
  • lingers near a registered sex offender’s residence
  • is contacted by someone on the sex offender registry.

Tracking can be set up in a few steps.  You will need to add your child to your family profile, then install the OffenderWatch Child App on your child’s phone.  You need access to your child’s phone.

Add your child to the Family.

• On your parent phone, click Family to Mange your Family
• Click Add New Member and enter your child’s name, device type and phone number
• Add email addresses to be tracked, or if using an Apple device, click Add iCloud Account so we can set up a time to walk you through the Apple setup.
• Click Add New Family Member
• A text message with two links will be sent to your child’s phone.
• Go login to your child’s phone.

Install on your child’s phone.

• When you created your child’s profile, a link was sent in a message to your child’s phone. Follow the instructions in the message to download the OffenderWatch App on your child’s device.
• After the App is installed, you may open it.
• Go back to the text message and click the second link to initialize monitoring.
• The app will run in the background without using much battery. If your child accidentally deletes the app, we will notify you.

Success! 

Now you can get back onto your parent phone and track your child on the map and find any sex offenders that reside nearby. If you have setup monitoring, you will get location alerts, alerts of unwanted contact, and a monthly email with statistics.

You must have the OffenderWatch Child App installed on your child’s phone.

Open the app on the parent phone and click on the profile button in the bottom right-hand corner. Then click on locations and on the next page, tap New Location. Now you can either enter in the address or drag the map to the area where you would like to setup the geofence. You can adjust the location radius with the slider. Click on next to choose which children you would like to protect on the app and then click on save location.

You must have the OffenderWatch Child App installed and monitoring configured.  

Use the Watch List to get an alert should your child get contacted by someone you are concerned about.  Consider listing an ex with a protective order, a known bully, of creepy uncle.  Click on Profile then Watch List.  Add the person’s Name and Phone Number.

Monitoring you child’s iPhone is a great idea. Parents will get a notification should your child get contacted by someone on the registry.

To start monitoring your child’s iPhone, you will need to know your child’s Apple ID and password. We will monitor your child’s iCloud account in the background, so it won’t affect performance of your child’s phone.  Forgot my Apple ID? Here is what to do.   

Setting it up can be a little tricky, but our courteous staff is standing by to walk you through it.  Contact [email protected] to arrange a time to set it up together. It only takes a few minutes.

For iOS, either app will auto update if you have your device set to accept auto updates. If you update manually, then the app will incorporate new features after you update the app from the Apple store. 

For Android, the parent app may be downloaded from the Google Play store. The parent app will update automatically if you have your device set to do automatic updates. However, the kids app is obtained directly from our servers. When we have an update, we will send a link that can be sent to the child device for updating.

The version number is on the lower right of the login screen. 

There is more you can do.  Follow these Online Safety Tips.

We monitor Microsoft, Yahoo and Gmail addresses. Many school addresses are actually supported by one of these services. Ask your school which one they use.

Because OffenderWatch is a business partner with thousands of agencies in the United States, we have been able to gain access to this information on your behalf.

To turn these services on, follow the steps below:

For iPhone Devices:
1. Open the Settings App.
2. Scroll down to OffenderWatch App.
3. Set Location to be on “Always.”

For Android Devices:
1. Open your device’s Settings app.
2. Select Apps.
3. Select the OffenderWatch App.
4. In App Info, Click on Permission.
5. Turn on Call Logs, Contacts, Location, Phone, SMS, and Storage.  

Please note that the sex offender may not be in your local sheriff or police department’s jurisdiction—but they will know how to contact other agencies to get information about the offender. The process may take some time. Be patient. Carefully monitor your child’s communications and talk to him or her about safety with strangers and to avoid this person.

If you have other questions or need help, you can always contact us at [email protected].

Apple devices also have a setting that prevents deletion of apps. From the home screen, Tap Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions. Make sure Content and Privacy Restrictions is On. Now tap iTunes and App Store Purchases, then set Deleting Apps to Don’t Allow.  

If you think it’s a technical problem with the app and need further help, contact us at [email protected]. 

However, one of the best safeguards against online predators is talking to your children about what is right and wrong when chatting online.

You can get all the legal details here in the Terms of Use.

Terms of Use

Forgot Apple ID Recovery
Apple ID Frequently Asked Questions
Apple ID Support
Manage your Apple ID primary, rescue, alternate, and notification email addresses – Apple Support