Police are investigating reports that a 56-year-old Kaaha Street man sexually assaulted children and exposed them to pornography on the Internet at his apartment off University Avenue over the weekend.

The suspect was terminated Monday from a sex offender treatment program he was required to participate in as a condition of his parole. He had served about six years in prison for a February 1984 sexual assault conviction in Nevada before coming here.

He was arrested Monday for parole violation shortly after police began investigating the sexual assault case.

"They should at least tell people so we can be aware of it," said Kaaha Street resident Vivian Bryant-Kalima.

"I would prefer to know. I don't want this guy going up to him and doing something to him," she said, referring to her grandson, 3, who was in a stroller outside their apartment building, next door to where the suspect lives.

A state law that went into effect Jan. 1 requires convicted felony sex offenders released into the community to register with the local law enforcement agency in areas where they live or expect to stay longer than a month, said police Sgt. Kennard Finn.

But the law does not require authorities to notify residents when a convicted sex offender moves into the neighborhood.

The state attorney general in January will propose legislation to modify the sex offender registration program, said Deputy Attorney General Kurt Spohn of the Criminal Justice Division.

"In some respects, the Hawaii standard is already higher than the federal standard," he said. "We need to look at details of the federal law and see if we need adjustments to our state law."

The law signed by President Clinton this year asks states to disclose information on sex offenders to law enforcement agencies for law enforcement purposes and to government agencies conducting criminal background checks, Spohn said. The law also encourages the release of information necessary to protect the public, he said.

Hawaii law enforcement authorities are already well-informed about sex offenders, he said. "The question is, do we expand it to allow law enforcement to release information for public safety?"

The suspect, a maintenance worker at a Dillingham Boulevard business, was registered with police, said Detective David Do of the police child sex crimes unit.

He remains in custody pending charges while police investigate. "He has been captured on a retake warrant so there's no rush to charge him since he's already in custody," Do said.

The Hawaii Paroling Authority has 60 days to hold a hearing to decide if his parole should be revoked, said authority Administrator Anthony Commendador.

Nevada officials also may decide to have him returned for the parole violations. If pending charges here are more serious, however, Nevada authorities will wait until they are resolved, Commendador said.

Since the state law went into effect this year, nearly 300 sex offenders have been registered, Finn said. Police also are informed by the jail, prison, hospital or institution that releases the offender.

One of the parole conditions imposed on the suspect was that he participate in sex offender treatment. His termination from the program violated those conditions.

"The provider felt he wasn't participating to the extent he should be," Commendador said.

"We try to do as much as we can to reduce reoffending," he said. "Unfortunately, the thing about this group of people - child molesters - is it's difficult to predict when they will reoffend."

The victims in the recent cases were three boys and three girls from two Aliamanu families. The suspect was an acquaintance of the families, police said.

Police were called to an Aliamanu Street home at noon Monday to investigate a report of a sexual assault that took place Saturday.

That afternoon, the suspect had taken two sets of siblings - three boys and three girls ages 5 to 10 - swimming at Ala Moana Beach Park, then to his Kaaha Street apartment.

At the apartment, he allegedly fondled a 9-year-old girl and showed her pictures on the Internet of a naked male masturbating. He also exposed himself while she was taking a shower and video taped her, a younger sister and another girl showering, according to a court affidavit.