Law Enforcement Cracks Down on Sex Offenders as Halloween Nears

Chattannoga, TN-

Halloween is a time of fun and games for kids, but for sexual predators it can mean easy prey, that's why local law enforcement will crack down on sex offenders leading up to the 31st. Tennessee passed a law in July that prohibits convicted sex offenders from impersonating, or dressing as, or professing to be any fictional character or real person that would entice a minor to come around them.

 The Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole has issued restrictions to sex offenders during the Halloween season. Offenders are not allowed to pass out candy, decorate their homes for Halloween, go to haunted houses or other seasonal activities, or wear costumes.

 "Halloween is about children, and it's a time of disguise, and that's one of the reasons why.", says Hamilton County Sheriff's Detective Jimmy Clift.

 "It would be very difficult to prosecute a case of a stranger on a child if all we have is he was dressed as a baseball player or had a mask on or whatever, we can't really determine that."

 Despite the Halloween crackdown, officers say Tennessee law hinders them from doing more.

 "I believe in Georgia or Florida, one of the neighboring states, they have to post in their yard they are a convicted sex offender.", Clift says. "In Tennessee, we're kind of lax in that area, and it's not the Police Department or Sheriff's office, we can only enforce the laws that are on the books." 

That means parents must do more to ensure a safe Halloween for their children. Clift stresses the best way to do that is to go to the TBI's Sex Offender database and "know who's in the area they are going trick or treating in, you know know the addresses, and don't let your children go there. Not every offender is a predator, but I can't know that and I would treat all offenders as dangerous."

[Ed: Hey kids! It's "Boogey-Man" time again! And there ain't nothin' scarier than a nation of ignorant and bigoted adults brain washin' children to be extra paranoid about non-existent threats.  Hell, they don't need no damned statistics to tell them otherwise!]