Beaumont resident and convicted sex offender Robert Jacquet said Tuesday that he just can't seem to get a break.

And things may get even tougher, he said, after his name and those of 18 other "high-risk" sex offenders were posted on the Riverside County Sheriff's Web site, at http://www.co.riverside.ca.us/sheriff/crime/high-risk/index.html.

Jacquet, 63, said he's been living on the straight and narrow ever since his last release from prison about four years ago.

"I haven't been arrested (and) haven't even gotten a ticket since I got out of prison," he said.

Yet, his past follows him wherever he goes, he said.

"It feels like you are really not free; you're a slave, no matter what you do," Jacquet said, adding that he is a born-again Christian and a deacon in his church.

And now that his name, photograph and the street where he lives are available to anyone with a computer and Internet connection, he fears things will get worse.

"I'm concerned that people are going to start harassing me," he said. "I understand what I did, but I don't think a person should be browbeaten for what he did and doesn't do anymore."

According to the California Department of Corrections, Jacquet was sent to state prison three times between December 1976 and August 1990 for assault with the attempt to commit a sexual offense and rape. He was paroled for his last offense in early 1999.

On Monday, the sheriff's Web site began carrying a link that shows the name and photograph of high-risk sex offenders, and lists their convictions, as well as naming the streets on which they live.

Sheriff Bob Doyle said Tuesday that he believes putting the information on the Web is imperative for protecting children and young women in Riverside County from high-risk sex offenders -- those who have already shown a propensity for repeating their crimes.

"My concern is that our children are safe," Doyle said.

The number of high-risk offenders, however, pales in comparison to the approximately 2,900 offenders living in the county who are classified as "serious offenders."

Doyle said that, for now, there are no plans to include those people's identities on the Web site. While many of those offenders have committed serious crimes, including child molestation, forceable rape, and sodomy, those individuals have not yet shown an inclination to repeat their crimes, he said.

In March 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the green light for revealing the identity of convicted sex offenders on the Internet. It also ruled that doing so does not pose a double punishment. Following that decision, several states began posting the identities of sexual offenders on the Internet.

Because of the court decision, the American Civil Liberties Union -- long an opponent of Internet access to the identities of convicted sex offenders -- is no longer attempting to challenge the practice, said Elizabeth Schroeder, associate director of the ACLU's Southern California office.

But in spite of the legality of the Internet postings, they are still a bad idea for several reasons, she said Tuesday. For one thing, they put offenders at the mercy of vigilantes, she said, citing a recent case in Bakersfield.

In late February, a knife-wielding man tried to break into the house of a convicted sex offender in that city. Police responded and ended up shooting and killing the man when he refused to drop the knife, a spokesman for the Bakersfield Police Department said Tuesday. The Sacramento Bee later reported that prior to the shooting, the police department had distributed fliers identifying the child molester in the neighborhood.

"We are concerned (the U.S. Supreme Court) decision will result in an increase in vigilantism," Schroeder said.

While the Riverside County Sheriff's Web site stops short of giving the street address of offenders, that does little to protect offenders from vigilantes, Schroeder said.

"If you have somebody's picture and their street, it's not going to be very difficult to put two and two together, so withholding the exact address is not going to do much good," she said.

Doyle said he realizes that acts of vigilantism are a risk. However, the needs of children come first.

"Those issues are small when compared to the protection of our kids," he said.

And those who would harass or injure offenders because of information they obtain on the Web site should be forewarned, he said.

"When you look at the amount of sex offenders in the state and county, you are going to have some isolated incidents; but when those people step over the line, we are going to do what we got to do," he said.

Schroeder said that posting offenders' identities on the Internet could give parents a false sense of security, since most sex crimes against children are committed by family members or close friends, not predators lurking in the bushes. When the crime is committed by a stranger, unless that person is a registered sex offender, he or she won't even be on the Web site, she said.

She added that research shows that maintaining a stable job and home environment is one of the most important factors in preventing offenders from repeating their crimes.

"If people are hounded, two things are likely to occur: there is a greater likelihood they will re-offend and that people will stop registering," she said, citing a phenomenon known as "Megan's Flight."

"It is becoming more common for offenders to stop registering because they are afraid of retribution," Schroeder said.

Doyle said that parents should look at the information available on the Web site as just one more tool they have to protect their children.

"Any of us that have kids understand this," he said. "You have to be armed with knowledge about who is in your neighborhood."

Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (909) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or wbennett@californian.com.