WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. — Neighbors living on Saulsbury Street were frustrated they were never notified that a man who was convicted of having an extensive child pornography collection moved into their neighborhood.
Eric Beyer pleaded guilty in 2015 to sexual exploitation of a child with intent to sell or publish and sexual exploitation of a child with over 20 items.
Investigators found 35,000 photos and 500 videos of child pornography on his computer.
The Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office said it was one of the largest collections of child pornography ever discovered in the county.
A judge ordered Beyer to serve four years in prison and six years of sex offender probation. Beyer got out of prison early and in September, registered his address on Saulsbury Street.
“I had no idea. I had no idea. It’s kind of alarming. There are kids in the neighborhood,” Eve Ferguson said.
The Wheat Ridge Police Department said neighbors weren’t notified because while Beyer is a sex offender, he’s not violent. Under the law, communities are only notified if a sexually violent predator moves into the area.
Neighbors are still frustrated and said in cases such as this, people need to be notified.
“That’s what’s really bothering me. We have two little grandkids now. We’ve been here 26 years. We don’t plan on leaving. It’s kind of scary now to know this is coming up. What do we do here? I don’t know. I think something has to be done,” Chris Cedillo said.
Wheat Ridge police suggest residents can sign up on SOTAR to receive email notifications when a sex offender moves with a specified radius of addresses or go to the department’s website.