Sex Offenders: Fear vs. Fact on Halloween By Derek W. Logue
Media fearmongering over “Registered Sex Offenders” in the community has become an annual Halloween tradition in the same way as razor blades and poison in candy.
Wendy Murphy (who famously stated she “never met a false rape claim” during the Duke Lacrosse case) declared in the Boston Herald that “Halloween is like Christmas for sex offenders,” and local news outlets are adding advice to consult the registry as a “safety tip.”
A careful look at available research proves such fears are misplaced. But it hasn’t prevented five states from enacting statutes prohibiting at least some registered sex offenders from participating in Halloween activities:
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- Arkansas enacted a law on July 24, 2019 prohibiting all registrants classified as Tier 3 or 4 from distributing candy or wearing masks where a minor is present UNLESS every minor at the event is a relative of the registrant, or the costumes/ candy distribution is related to legitimate employment.
I don’t know the source of the articles restrictions by state. The restrictions the author mentions for Florida only apply to registrants on probation.
https://www.wesh.com/article/florida-sex-offenders-halloween/34535428
Not related, but I did see an article where a guy was arrested for being santa due to not registering the job as a place of employment.
Please ignore my previous statement. I do believe that I. Threw Butler county Ohio under the bus by mistake.
GL, I am more than aware of FL’s laws. This was in the original article:
Florida – (Enacted 2010) Fla. Stat. § 947.1405 and Fla. Stat. § 948.30 both contain, among other conditions of supervision, “A prohibition on distributing candy or other items to children on Halloween; wearing a Santa Claus costume, or other costume to appeal to children, on or preceding Christmas; wearing an Easter Bunny costume, or other costume to appeal to children, on or preceding Easter; entertaining at children’s parties; or wearing a clown costume; without prior approval from the court.”
(However, counties have their own rules, and many seem to apply these laws to all Registered persons. See https://www.news4jax.com/news/2020/10/22/still-trick-or-treating-this-year-check-your-route-for-sex-offenders/)
HOWEVER, my articles get edited by The Crime Report. So I don’t always have a complete say in the finished product. I don’t use the term “sex offender” except when absolutely necessary but it gets changed at times. That’s the price of sending in a report to a media outlet. I’m just grateful The Crime Report publishes my articles, however edited they may be, because many outlets refuse to publish articles written by Registered Persons.
Comments are open below the article. Please post there.
Glad you mentioned the Duke LaCrosse Case. For those who don’t know, a crooked prosecutor false testimony from a known black female prostitute to pursue gang rape charges against all white male lacrosse players. The crooked prosecutor eventually lost his license to practice law forever. The details can be vetted by FAC fact checkers from the book titled “Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case”. So, this post is VERIFIED.
I’m glad The Crime Report left it in there.
Hillsborough County started there mass Hysteria Campain today for finding sex predators/offenders online beofre Halloween. Wich is excellent police work by the way. Because exactly zero kids have been assaulted on Halloween that I know of. Ever!
Best advice I have for Halloween: Be somewhere else with lots of cameras with other people you trust in a crowded venue. Halloween is a great night to go grocery shopping at Walmart. Look directly into the cameras and mosey through the store. Also, turn your porch light off before you go. If you have to be home, shut it down early. Lights off. Don’t answer the door, even if it’s law enforcement.
I for one go to my local casino…where its adults only and every inch of the place is covered by cameras. I can play nickel slots all afternoon and all night. Water and soft drinks are free as long as you play. đź‘Ť
Ben
So let others win by making you leave your own home out of fear? And I want to be home in case of vandals. If I was allowed I would run razor wire around my property and electrify it. Then dig an alligator moat around that.
Wishful thinking. For now I have attack squirrels on stand by LOL
BEN
WHY TURN YOUR LIGHTS OFF? OUTSIDE LIGHTS ARE USED FOR SECURITY PURPOSES…
I HOPE ALL ‘PERSONS FORCED TO REGISTER’ OUTSIDE LIGHTS, HAVE A FAULTY SWITCH WHICH DOES NOT ALLOW THEM TO TURN THEM OFF….SWITCHES CAN BREAK ON HALLOWEEN, JUST , LIKE, ANY OTHER DAY…
SO WITH A FAULTY SWITCH THAT CANNOT TURN THE OUTSIDE LIGHTS, ONE WILL HAVE TO CALL AN ELECTRICIAN FOR REPAIR, THE FOLLOWING DAY, AS THE LIGHTS WILL REMAIN ON, OUTSIDE, DURING HALLOWEEN!
THERE IS NO LAW AGAINST THIS…THE SWITCH IS BROKEN! I NEED A PROFESSIONAL CERTIFIED ELECTRICIAN TO FIX THE BROKEN SWITCH!
MAKE IT A GREAT TRICKED AND MIS-TREATED HELL-OOO-WEEEN!
Truth
And let’s see if some of the backwoods sheriffs do like in the past and make some registered persons to put signs in their yards stating “Sex offender resides here, no candy”.
Like that is not punishment for sure. I am tired of the argument that everything is public information. Well let the PUBLIC search for it, why make all these broadcasts, registries, etc. We are off probation but never free.
SO WITH A FAULTY SWITCH THAT CANNOT TURN THE OUTSIDE LIGHTS, ONE WILL HAVE TO CALL AN ELECTRICIAN FOR REPAIR, THE FOLLOWING DAY, AS THE LIGHTS WILL REMAIN ON, OUTSIDE, DURING HALLOWEEN!
THERE IS NO LAW AGAINST THIS…THE SWITCH IS BROKEN! I NEED A PROFESSIONAL CERTIFIED ELECTRICIAN TO FIX THE BROKEN SWITCH!
Yeah, tell that to the judge while you are waiting to get bailed out,,Keep in mind that bail for sex offenders no matter how minor the offence is usually very high. Just another small problem you might run into,,, does your PROFESSIONAL CERTIFIED ELECTRICIAN accept collect phone calls from jails?
Lights out is the law in certain places. Broken switch is not an affirmative defense.
Where lights out is NOT the law— such as most FL counties, for registrants off probation— registrants should feel free to do whatever they wish.
Porch Lighter
Thanks for giving us the all clear to do whatever I want. Guess I will start digging that moat full of alligators around our property.
Thanks 🙂
Well we all know and need to admit it. For 364 days out of the year we hold in our urges. On that ONE special day, we all come out of hiding and feast on the easy pickings.
Ok the above is the mindset of the public. And please, please show us all the data you have of children being kidnapped and attacked on Halloween? And Hello! Not everyone on the registry has a charge involving a child. And some that do have a charge for a minor are someone who was with a 17 year old and they consented (Even though the law says they cannot) with maybe a 25 year old.
I do not know the percentages of people on the registry for charges against young children, but doubt (In my opinion) any of them happened on Halloween. If it did, I want you to send us those articles because the way the public believes, 1000s of young kids are being dragged into the woods every Halloween but we never seem to hear about that on the news for some strange reason.
I am almost 60 years old and have lived all over the U.S. I trick or treated until age 14, I nor any of my friends had any trouble other than a jerk older kid occasionally beating us up to steal our candy or trash a Halloween display.
But like all the fake news, apparently we have a 90% re-offense rate? This has been debunked as not even being in the same universe of truth so many times but it sells news. People speak out at county ,city and local board meetings and throw out false info like machine gun kelly. And once board members hear that, instead of fact checking, they are drawn in to a false sense of urgency and pass laws and ban freedom.