Paroled sex offenders in 10 Southwestern Indiana counties will be required to stay home and avoid contact with children from 10 a.m. onward this Halloween, officials with the Evansville Parole District announced today.
It’s part of a statewide initiative dubbed Operation Safe Halloween aimed at monitoring sex offenders and keeping them from community streets during the youth-oriented holiday.
In this district, offenders will be required to be home and will be subject to visits and phone calls from parole agents and law enforcement officers.
Assistant District Supervisor Bob Hays said the program has two functions: It protects children by keeping sex offenders away from them and it protects sex offenders from false accusations.
“It gives the parents a little bit of peace of mind knowing that our offenders are at least going to be home,” Hays said. “And it gives the offenders peace of mind because no one can say they’ve done something they haven’t.”
In past years, the parole district has organized a class offenders were required to attend during trick-or-treating hours. Because the holiday fell on a Saturday this year, the focus shifted to a program that spanned the whole day.
The offenders will not be allowed to open their door and give out candy if children stop by because that may constitute a violation of their parole, Hays said. Offenders are barred from having items that can be used to coerce children into an illegal act. On Halloween, candy could qualify, Hays said.
“Our offenders, we’ve asked them to keep porch lights off,” he said. “That’s universally understood as a sign that that house isn’t participating in Halloween.”
Between 90 and 100 paroled sex offenders will be monitored as part of the program. The Evansville Parole District covers Daviess, Dubois, Gibson, Knox, Martin, Pike, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh and Warrick Counties.
The effort, though, includes only paroled sex offenders, who make up a fraction of the total number listed on the sex offender registry.
In Vanderburgh County, the number of people on the registry fluctuates from 360 to 400. As of Monday, only 63 of them were on parole, said Detective Cpl. Tom Wedding, the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office deputy who oversees the registry.
“The reality here is if we have 363 people on the sex offender registry, 63 are not allowed to participate but 300 can,” he said. “That’s why responsible parents need to use the sex offender registry in the area they want to be trick-or-treating.”
