Want to avoid sex offenders in your neighborhood this Halloween? Read this before trick-or-treating
Close-up of individually wrapped trick-or-treat candies, including Butterfingers, Hersheys Miniatures, 100 Grand bars, Reeses Pieces, Krackel, Baby Ruth, and M and Ms, Lafayette, California, November, 2022. Photo courtesy Sftm. (Photo by Gado/Getty I
There are over 24,500 registered sex offenders in the state of Georgia. Only some of them have to follow a special set of rules on Halloween.
Those who are on parole or probation must:
- Turn off all outside lights
- Not decorate their home for the holiday, or pass out candy
- Not answer the door, unless it's for a law enforcement officer or an emergency responder
In the past, the Atlanta Police Department has sent parole officers to visit the homes of sex offenders throughout the night to make sure they comply. However, sex offenders who are not on parole or probation don't have to abide by these same restrictions.
In 2018, Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix asked deputies to hand deliver "No Trick or Treat" flyers to be posted on the houses of registered sex offenders in their jurisdiction. In 2019, Butts County Sheriff Gary Long was sued for doing something similar. A federal judge ruled against him.
Parents who may be concerned about where their children trick-or-treat can search for offenders who live within a certain radius of their home address using a free, public database.
The Georgia Sex Offender Registry can be found here.