For children, Halloween is about the fun of putting on their costumes, running from door to door, and filling their buckets with candy. For parents, it’s about being diligent in protecting their children from strangers and unwrapped treats and their homes from pranksters. Parents accompany younger children trick-or-treating and inspect the candy before indulging their kids in the big annual sugar uptake. For local Utah law enforcement agencies, the holiday is about fielding vandalism calls and enforcing traffic laws and anti-sex crime laws that keep kids safe on Halloween.
Who and Where are the Utah Sex Offenders?
A sex offender is someone who has been convicted of a sex crime against one or more adults or children. Utah sex offender registry laws require people convicted of sex crimes to be registered on the State’s sex offender registry. Convictions for sex crimes against children that compel entry into the registry include indecent exposure, downloading child pornography, sexual exploitation of children, child rape, and many other offenses along the spectrum.
Sex offenders in Utah can be identified, and their residences can be located in the publicly accessible UDC Sex Offender & Kidnap Offender Registry. As one concerned mother of three commented to ABC4 news, “Kids can encounter them at any time, any day.” Nevertheless, Salt Lake City police warn parents to search online before Halloween and locate registered sex offenders in their neighborhood before taking children out for trick-or-treating.
Police officials reportedly further suggest that parents avoid letting their kids approach homes if the lights are off during trick-or-treating. They explain that the lights may be off because families are not at home (perhaps they’re out trick-or-treating, etc.), or just don’t want to be disturbed. But, they warn them to be aware of whether the resident is a sex offender.
