Sex offenders Halloween Check

As Mid-Missouri Children prepare to go knocking on doors for candy tonight the Cole County Sheriff’s Department will be knocking on doors, too…Sex offenders doors.

They will be making sure they are following the law called, ‘The Halloween Check.’

Tonight at 5 Cole County Deputies will be meeting to discuss which sex offenders home’s they will have to go to.

The annual “Halloween Check” was made law about five years ago.

Deputies will go to twenty-seven sex offenders homes, who have committed child sex crimes, and make sure they are compliant to the check.

From 5 until 10:30 these sex offenders will have to have their lights off, a sign on the door that says, ‘No Candy Here’, and stay inside their home.

Captain John Wheeler at the Cole County Sheriff’s Department said last year they had two that were not compliant on the initial check, but later found out they were at work, which is excuse under the law.

Wheeler said it’s good for parents to do their homework before heading out to trick-or-treat, as in looking up on the internet where sex offenders live.

However, he said just knowing where your kids are is the most important part.

“Know where your kids are at because there are some people out there that are sex offenders and we have them registered, but there’s a lot of predators that aren’t,”said Wheeler.

There are also free apps on cell phones, like ‘Sex Offender Search’, that will show where you are on a map, as well as the locations of the sex offenders.

A mug shot pops up, the crime they committed and the location of their home.

Wheeler said, “Communicate with your kids before during trick-or-treating, make sure they have a responsible adult around if you aren’t with them and make sure there is a safe house they can go to in case of an emergency.”

Wheeler said 9 times out of 10 simple communication can stop something bad from happening to your kids.