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Most Calif. Counties Absent From Database Of Domestic Violence 'Monsters'

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A national database of domestic violence similar to those that list sexual predators is in the works, but the vast majority of California may be left out of the project.

Lyn Twyman, founder of The Courage Network for domestic violence survivors, is the Deputy Director of The National Domestic Violence Registry launched in 2007.

Twyman told KNX 1070 combing through all those records can be tedious but rewarding work.

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"You do have domestic violence that is civil and you have domestic violence that is criminal, so establishing that history of abuse is very important when it comes to place records in a domestic violence registry," said Twyman.

Typically, a first domestic violence incident is plea bargained down to another offense, such as disorderly conduct.

But by the time someone shows up in the system, Twyman says a pattern has likely already been established.

"We also have to start thinking about how domestic violence is addressed in this country and the fact that no person deserves to be abused," said Twyman.

So far, Twyman says the group is getting widespread cooperation from counties from 13 states in raising awareness of tracking systems like GPS monitoring to provide courts with the resources to potentially stave off any fatal attacks.

"We are looking for the monsters," said Twyman. "We are looking for the absolute monsters who go back and continuously violate restraining orders...they stalk their victims, they harass their victims," she said.

Despite its rapid development, however, the database in California is limited to those offenders only from Kern County.

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