Missouri's new sex offenders law provides a way to identify potential suspects in future crimes, area law enforcement officials say.

Sex offenders must register with police and sheriff's departments.

"Right off the bat, you have an instant suspect list," Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said.

Swingle said that could be a big help in cases where children have been abducted.

Perry County Sheriff Gary Schaaf said, "I think this is probably going to do a lot more good in the urban areas of the state where you might have somebody preying on neighborhood kids."

Schaaf said that in his rural county, the five people who registered as sex offenders were already known to his officers.

Under the new law, the registration lists can only be disclosed to law enforcement agencies.

Some law enforcement officials would like to see the lists made available to the general public.

Morley and Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan said citizens should have a right to know if sex offenders are living in their neighborhoods.

"I feel parents want to know," Jordan said.

Child molesters often move into an area and get jobs dealing with children, Swingle said.

Publicizing the names, he said, would help keep child molesters away from children and might keep such individuals from committing future crimes.

Still, Swingle and others believe that even a confidential registration list can be a deterrent to future crime.

Jordan said, "I really feel like it has a psychological effect on the person that may be doing that. They might think twice."