REDMOND – Students at Redmond schools have been warned about a man labeled a ”predatory sex offender,” now living near schools.

Students at Obsidian Middle School recently took home notes stating that ”in the interest of safety” the school was sharing information of a ”predatory sex offender released to the community” and ”living within walking distance of several schools.”

The subject of the warning is Kenneth Scott Chandler, 31. In 1998 Chandler was convicted of attempted sex abuse and was sentenced to eight months in prison and five years of post-prison supervision. Conditions of his parole include no contact with minors of either gender, sex offender evaluation and treatment, substance abuse evaluation and treatment and no intoxicating beverages.

Obsidian sent the notices home May 23, said Howard Peck, middle school dean of students, after being given the information by the man’s parole officer.

Vicki Moss said she and her neighbors are concerned. Moss, who is the parent of an Obsidian sixth-grader and a Vern Patrick Elementary fifth-grader, said she has talked to her neighbors and ”there is a lot of fear here. We have a lot of pre-pubescent girls walking home.”

Moss said her fifth-grader didn’t bring home written notice, but instead teachers talked about the issue and safety during class.

”I’m surprised they let him move so close to schools,” Moss said. Chandler said Tuesday he didn’t know that the public had been warned about him. ”People don’t need to be afraid of me,” he said. ”I don’t understand what all the hoopla is about.”

According to Deschutes County Circuit Court records, Chandler was charged in May 1998 with five counts of attempted first-degree kidnapping, two counts of second-degree kidnapping, and four counts of first-degree sex abuse, involving five female victims.

In December 1998, he pleaded guilty to one count of attempted sex abuse, and the other charges were dismissed on the motion of the district attorney. He lives on Southwest 30th Street, about a half-mile from Vern Patrick Elementary and nearly 2 miles from Obsidian and M.A. Lynch.

According to an offender notification from the Deschutes County Parole and Probation Office, Chandler’s crime involved him approaching grade school-age girls, offering them things such as candy, money for shopping and a trip to California with him. In addition, the notification said, Chandler has a long history of falsifying his identity to would-be victims by stating that he is a Navy S.E.A.L. or involved in some way in either firefighting or law enforcement.

Sex offenders in Oregon are divided into categories using a ”risk tool” that tallies history, and offenses, said Jay Scroggin of Deschutes County Parole and Probation. If the score is high enough, they are deemed predators.

According to Oregon State Police, there are 51 people with Redmond addresses registered as sex offenders. In addition to Chandler, one other is considered predatory. State police records show three of the 322 sex offenders in Deschutes County are classified as sexual predators. Two of the 67 sex offenders in Crook County are labeled predators, and none of the 59 sex offenders in Jefferson County carry the designation.

Oregon law requires counties to provide some level of notification. Each county develops its own criteria, Scroggin said.

In Deschutes County there are three levels that run from merely sending a flier to local police, to the highest level where the parole officer would place ads in newspapers and on television, or go door-to-door notifying neighbors. The middle level gives notification, tied to the offender’s past, to places such as schools or nursing homes.

Oregon State Police maintain a sex-offender registry, which is available to the public. The agency can provide descriptions and addresses of sex offenders who are not on probation. The address of a sex offender on parole or probation can only be obtained from the parole or probation officer. Central Oregon residents can contact the state police at their post near the Deschutes County Jail in Bend.