Here is a (spooky?) collection of Halloween sex offender news stories from around the web:
From Sentencing Law & Policy, we learn that certain Alabama sex offenders are required to attend an educational meeting on Halloween night which will feature "updates on sex offender laws, the Adam Walsh Act and rehabilitation opportunities, as well as training for employment."
Law enforcement officials in Omaha, Nebraska report that they will be paying extra attention to sex offenders on Halloween night. Officials are encouraging parents to check the online registries to know who lives where.
Meanwhile in Missouri, registered sex offenders are required to stay at home from 5 to 10:30 pm on Halloween, absent "just cause" to leave. The ban remains in effect despite a 2009 study that found "no significant increases in sex crimes on or around Halloween after an examination of crime data looking at non-familial sex crimes from 1997 to 2005 against children 12 years old and younger."
Floridian sex offenders also cannot participate in trick or treating at their homes and must display a "No Candy Here" sign on their front doors.
In California, sex offenders who are not on parole or probation are allowed to put up Halloween decorations in their yard, despite objections from neighbors.
How Safe Are Trick-or-Treaters?: An Analysis of Child Sex Crime Rates on Halloween
authors: Mark Chaffin, Jill Levenson; Elizabeth Letourneau; Paul Stern
published in
Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment
Volume 21 Number 3
September 2009 363-374
Abstract States, municipalities, and parole departments have adopted policies banning known sex offenders from Halloween activities, based on the worry that there is unusual risk on these days. The existence of this risk has not been empirically established. National Incident-Base Reporting System crime report data from 1997 through 2005 were used
to examine daily population adjusted rates from 67,045 nonfamilial sex crimes against children aged 12 years and less. Halloween rates were compared with expectations based on time, seasonality, and weekday periodicity. Rates did not differ from expectation, no increased rate on or just before Halloween was found, and Halloween incidents did not evidence unusual case characteristics. Findings were invariant across years, both prior to and after these policies became popular. These findings raise questions about the wisdom of diverting law enforcement resources to attend to a problem that does not appear to exist.
Posted by: Niki Delson | October 31, 2009 at 01:28 PM
http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=11416432
Local article wherein the probation department states clearly there is no evidence supporting restrictions increase child safety. In fact, the person quoted makes it clear the greatest benefit may belong to the offender, who need not fear false accusations on Halloween.
The first on-air version of the story included facts that over 90% of the offenders being "rounded-up" had known their victims. Alas, that was removed from subsequent on-air reports, asw ell as the online version.
Posted by: Rika | October 31, 2009 at 08:55 PM