Four months ago, Mark and Nicole Kruger found out a registered sex offender lives on their block.

"We were really frightened because we have two young daughters and they love to play outside and we've always felt relatively safe in this neighborhood," said Nicole.

But Mark and Nicole say they would never confront their neighbor.

Mike Williams, a supervisor for the department of corrections in Wausau, says that's a good idea.

"What the person should not do is take in their own hands to do something that could potentially be illegal and get themselves into trouble," said Williams.

Williams says once a sex offender is no longer under the state's supervision, law allows them to live where they want.

It's the case with Arlan Meer, a registered sex offender living in Friendship. He knows he'll carry that label for the rest of his life but says harassment has kept him and his family from moving on.

"We've had condoms on our mailbox, we've had phone calls, we've had reports to social services that we have sex toys laying around and that we parade our daughter around naked in front of men," said Meer.

"I really, really believe that every American citizen deserves rights," said Nicole Kruger. "But it gets really, really cloudy when it gets near these issues. Especially because we have daughters. I can't think of it in a rational matter."

Williams says a lot of parents feel this way, but it's important to remember not all registered sex offenders have a history of targeting children or even someone they don't know.

He encourages you to call your local corrections department to find out exactly what the offender living near you was convicted of.

"We can look to see what they're on for, we give them a little information about the offense history, their profile," said Williams.

"It's the people you don't know about is who you should be more concerned about."

Authorities say to make sure you talk to your children about strangers and keep an eye on them and yourself no matter who your neighbor is.

There are several ways to find out if a registered sex offender lives near you. Mapsexoffenders.com allows you to type in actual addresses. Also, be sure to check out the Wisconsin Dept. of Corrections Sex Offender Registry at http://offender.doc.state.wi.us/public/. It can give you more details about what type of offense the offender was convicted of.