Oakdale is currently the only city in Washington County with a level-three predatory offender, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections.

That information was relayed to Oakdale residents recently during a meeting held after Ka Her, 36, moved to the city on Sept. 1 and became its first level-three predatory offender.

Predatory offenders are assigned to one of three levels, depending on public risk. A level three predatory offender means there is a higher risk of reoffense; it's the only level that requires broad public notification.

Of those assigned risk levels, 59 percent are level one, 26 percent are level two and 15 percent are level three, according to the DOC.

There are currently 280 registered sex offenders in Washington County.

By comparison, there are 105 in Chisago County, 595 registered offenders in Anoka County, 1,335 registered offenders in Ramsey County and 467 registered offenders in Dakota County. The nearest city with a level three predatory offender is Maplewood, according to the DOC website. 

There are several factors that determine a predatory offender risk level, including criminal history, juvenile records, number of felonies, order of protection violations, assaults and whether the person has participated in a chemical dependency or sex-offender programming, according to a DOC representative.

Resources

The DOC provides resources for residents looking to check whether a level three predatory offender is living in their neighborhood. Public information is only available for such offenders; levels one and two are not public information since they are lower risk for reoffense.

Residents can visit the DOC website to search for offenders by zip code, name, city or county. Another resource for residents is the United States Department of Justice's National Sex Offender Registry. 

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