Baltimore County Police Watching Sex Offenders This Halloween
County police will be watching sex offenders to make sure they do not make contact with children.
Trick-or-treaters won't be getting candy from some of their neighbors this year.
Maryland law dictates that registered sex offenders may not have any contact with children other than their own. Accordingly, Baltimore County Police have asked them not to decorate the outside of their homes, to keep their blinds and curtains shut, to turn the outside lights off and not answer the door to trick-or-treaters.
Undercover police officers will keep select sex offenders under close surveillance this holiday, officials said. Those in violation could get sent back to court and face jail time.
The additional manpower and hours needed to conduct this operation were made possible through a grant provided by the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention.
Residents can view where sex offenders live by going to the Sex Offender Compliance and Enforcement in Maryland website.
Shana Rowan
3:18 pm on Thursday, November 1, 2012
Sex offenders have the lowest recidivism rate of all criminals except murderers, according to dozens of university, federal and state studies. Not all sex offenders have victimized children, and over 1/3 of sex crimes perpetrated against children are committed by other children. 95% of kids are abused by family or friends who aren't on the registry. Dr. Jill Levenson’s 2009 study, “How Safe are Trick-or-Treaters: Child Sex Crime Rates on Halloween?” found that non-familial child sexual abuse accounted for less than .2% on Halloween. Why is law enforcement spreading such glaring myths, and why is the media latching on??