Should sex offender's homes be posted as dangerous during Halloween?

No. The sex offender registries are ill-conceived. In many cases, people are essentially sentenced to a life of exclusion for getting too close to slightly younger peers as teenagers. Here’s a short artice on that, and a report on the general effectiveness of publicizing such data.

Actual pedophiles who are interested in preying on kids will find a way to do that, unless they’re in prison. There are 364 other nights in the year, much better suited as there’s fewer people on the streets.

@SEKA to be fair, it is one stupid sheriff in one pissant little county in the middle of nowhere. It isn’t all counties and all sheriffs. If the sheriff here tried to pull something like that, he’d be out of office by late afternoon.

I don’t think the signs should be up at all. Didn’t you read the Scarlet Letter?

The sex offender registry is one of the stupidest things ever. If they are so dangerous why have they been let out to roam the street? Burger King has bathrooms!!

If you want to save some lives make people put signs on their houses if they have guns. I’m not letting my kids go play in a house that might have guns floating around.

I dont have a problem with it because its part of the sex offender rules. The offender is to post, keep lights out, etc.

A lot of these offenders have committed actual crimes against children, its definately not all ‘mistakes between teens’. Its all public information anyway.

@JohnPowell Seriously? An inanimate object is worse than a child molester? Wtaf.

Good parents should already know which houses to just stay the hell away from. The only people I see on the registry near us did some serious stuff. Thankfully there are not many of them.

In my county, here’s what the Probation Department does (excerpt from last year’s article):

“When it comes time for trick-or-treaters to knock on doors this Halloween night, local sex offenders will once again be attending an anti-sexual abuse victim impact program, designed to keep sex offenders off the streets. The annual program is run by the Westchester County Probation Department, and is joined by the Putnam County Probation Department and the Westchester County Department of Public Safety.
Over 150 registered and non-registered sex offenders on probation in Westchester County, as well as a dozen from Putnam County Probation have received special “invitations,” requiring them to attend the educational program. The program is being held at Westchester County Courthouse between 5:30 and 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 31.”

If they don’t attend the program, the Probation Department goes out and finds them.

Just an aside, when you learn about sex offenders and the sex offender registry, you learn that of all the people who commit sex acts against children, the amount that actually end up on the Sex Offenders’ Registry is very small. The reason why is because many children don’t report when things have been “done” to them. If they do, they might tell a friend. If they end up telling an adult, many adults won’t report it to the authorities (for a variety of reasons, the least being in my county, it will become a CPS report for the parent). Of those that do report it to the authorities, many times the DA determines that the case won’t hold up in court (child too young to testify, story has holes in it, etc.). So long story short, you might have a sex offender living right next to you and not know it, because he or she is not on the registry.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with the Sex Offender Registry. I think it’s great. I am just pointing out that there are way many more molesters than what ends up being listed on the registry.

In the work I did, with Child Protective, so, so many women reported to me that when they were young, someone molested them or touched them inappropriately. Their uncle, their father, their stepfather, their family friend, and of people I know personally, as well. Now there’s more of an emphasis on telling someone when things like that happen, but 30,40,50 years ago, it wasn’t drilled into kids’ heads like it is now. Even so, now, I bet way more things happen then is actually reported.

^^now that’s depressing.

@KNOWITALL :: You should see my workshop. I have a router that is frightening. 3HP spinning a quarter inch bit at 25KRPM. Sharp as hell too. Sounds like a lawnmower. And my table saw. And my welder. Like you say, inanimate objects. And my shit is harder to turn on since I unplug everything and turn off the breaker when I am done.

Would you let a kid play in my workshop?

My shit is so dangerous I won’t even go down there if I have been drinking.

My table saw is substantially harder to turn on then a loaded gun daddy forgets on his desk. Seriously. Once you turn on the breaker, plug in, insert the safety pin that goes through the power button enabling it to be turned on. And then you have to press the switch that takes way more force than pulling a trigger on a gun.

A toddler never cut dads finger off using a table saw.

@johnpowell Only a jackass leaves loaded guns around like that. Different issue.

Well, my point was about making warnings for things being put on houses. So yeah, If you think the law should make people put up a sign that says “Jackass with gun lives here” I am fine with that.

I think you should be able to voluntarily enter yourself into a sex offender registry, so that these little shits leave you alone.

@johnpowell It seems like you’re opening the door for all sorts of tings, when you label a home for one thing or another:

1 Republican lives here
2 Racist lives here
3 Caution: owner is unfriendly
4 Jealous wife lives here
5 Family here smokes pot
6 Owner of this home drinks > 40 beers/day

As soon as you label, you open the door for all sorts of groups to smear their pet enemies

@johnpowell Theres no comparison on an accident and intentional sexual abuse of a minor by an adult. I’m very passionate about childrens issues.

@elbanditoroso :: Yeah.. My original point was that announcing the horrible person lives there isn’t helpful for anything. Be it sex offender or Dremel enthusiast. If a person shouldn’t be in society some boundaries won’t mean anything.

@KNOWITALL :: I honestly don’t trust any anecdotal evidence you can scrape up. That is what happens when you hitch your cart to a perpetual liar. All y’all stained with shit.

@johnpowell Anecdotal? Do you think the sex offender registry is not factually listing the crime, level, sentence, etc..?

I’d rather be stained with shit than the blood of millions of dead babies.

Wait.. Where did the the gay friend that was a pedo story go? Did you edit it out?

That is the anecdotal thing I was talking about.

Get Michael Myers to call on them & hack off their cocks with a big knife.

@john Yes, people twist LGBTQ stories in with pedophiles a lot, so I dont want to add to their paranoid delusions.

But it was your paranoid delusion. You said it was your friend.

And when I said anecdotal, you must have known that I was mentioning your garbage made up thing. So then you twist it to where my anecdotal is the sex offender registry in general.

Jesus is all, “she isn’t one of us.”

@johnpowell Um no, my friend dated a man he didnt know was a sex offender. At Halloween, the link was all over facebook, so the guy fessed up. It was very hurtful for my friend. His niece and nephew couldnt even come over.

I dont care what you think of me at all, give it up.

Okay. Thanks for re-posting a modified version.

Registries do nothing to actually protect children and only further punish people who have, supposedly, already paid their debt to society.

Here is a link to a website which by entering your address (or area of your choice) gives you information about registered sex offenders in that area: ttps://www.familywatchdog.us/

I agree with @Darth_Algar ‘s answer.

No. I’d much prefer signs that point out drug dealers, gang members, and drug houses.

They are a bigger threat to society.

The Sex Offender Registry is problematic because of the broad range of offenses that can land you there. When my wife was a Probation Officer, her caseload was half domestic abuse and half sex offenders. She had sex offenders on the registry for child molestation (attempted and actual), but she also had people on the registry for touching a woman’s butt while waiting for a bus. Unacceptable behavior sure, but not the same thing by degrees.

The oddest one she had was a guy who, after a shower, walked over to his apartment window, while wearing a towel, to close the blinds. Person down on the street saw him in the window for an instant and called the cops. Claimed he was naked, exposing himself through the window. Guy ended up on the sex offender registry and had 5 years probation. Lost his job, girlfriend left him, and was forced to move from his apartment due to pressure from neighbors. Wrecked his life.

^ This. It’s too easy for non-dangerous people to end up on the same “registered sex offender list” even when they were caught peeing outdoors etc.

Hopefully if police are labeling homes of sex offenders, that can and do use discretion as to the type of offense, but I would fear our overly rule-bound systems might tend to insist everyone on the list be treated “equally”... sigh.

If I’m not mistaken, the Sex Offender Registry tells the degree of the offense and gives some details. So even though there are people who may have done lesser crimes on it, it’s specified what kind of crime they committed.

Posted? Like with an armed guard? Or have a big sign that states who lives there?
Here we have a web site that ID’s the bad guys and notes where they live. And they are required to not had out goodies and keep their porch lights off.

I’m not for the Scarlet Letter approach. Children young enough to trick or treat should have an adult with them. That’s all I can say…..parents, be with your kids when they trick or treat. Kids old enough to not want mom or dad with them are too old to trick or treat.

And no, I do not know a single convicted sex predator. I have no children with me now but I know where the two offenders on the registry are in my town.

This is simply a parental responsibility.

Any law enforcement officers putting up a sign in my yard will get just one warning followed by a blast from a double barrelled shotgun.

I say no. No kids should be trick or treating as singletons. Buddy up, have some parents walking around with the kids, or out on the block watching the children.

You van also be registered as a sexual offender, by public urination. Most sites tell you what the person did. But urinating, on the street, when there’s no other place to go…. That’s a far cry from keeping sex slaves, in the basement.

I don’t think I would let my kids go trick, or treating, in this current environment anyways. That sucks. But I’d rather them bot be wondering around at night…

I’m surprised by the people here defending people on the registry. wtf

Well. Getting registered, for public urination, is stupid, IMO.

On the Charleston peninsula, there are frequently no public restrooms. So people pee on the street, or alleys, and are charged as a sexual offender. The registry, will usually tell you a person’s crime. IMO. Public urination, doesn’t equate, to rape. I am not defending rapists. But someone who had to pee, and nowhere to do it, should not be on the sane list…

@Stache We’re not defending the people on the registry. We are disagreeing with the current registry and how it is used. Why isn’t there one for murderers? Or drug dealers or financial advisors who create Ponzi schemes, or doctors who misprescribe drugs? For the most part, I am more afraid of those people than most of the SO on the list. Where does it stop? What is the purpose?

I heard a horror story form one of the guys in the prostate cancer group.
For many men after surgery they are more incontinent that the Octomom in her 8th month.
The guy was driving home from work on a state highway (I forget whether it was Indiana or Illinois). About 30 minutes from home he ran into a traffic jam due to an accident. Traffic was stopped for a long time. and he became desperate ans his bladder filled to bursting.. He pulled his car off the road. and ran off into the bushes on the side of the road.
Apparently someone saw him do.

After the accident was cleared and he was driving home he wwas pulled over by a Trooper. .who asked him if he had urinated in the woods on the side of the road. “Of course I did!” he replied. “And did you take it out?” “Yes, or else I would have made a mess of myself.;” He answered honestly and openly, never thinking it would destroy his life. That was his signed confession!
He was charged with some form of indecency, exposing himself, which in that state is a sex offense and that put him on the registry.

Should he and his house be tarred and feathered for that? Is he a danger to children? Of course not. But to reactionary do-gooders itt does not matter. He is on the sex offender list. He is stained for life. Meanwhile the prosecutor running for office can boast he helped take more sex offenders off the street. He doing it “for the children.”

If there must be a list to protect people make it cover the small percentage that are really dangerous and include the other predators on the list. The way it’s run now is a shame.

Bugger all that into a cocked hat, just announce a purge & be done with it.

@Stache I agree. The registry shows the class of crime, and the cause. No baby rapists get an ounce of my sympathy.

@LuckyGuy That’s scary. I can’t count the number of times I have been out working in the middle of nowhere and have to duck into the woods to take a leak.

I know in NYC, DeBlasio recently made it legal to urinate in public. I feel on a highway or side of the road, or woods, it’s ok. But on a city street, when there are people walking all around you, it shouldn’t be ok.

Everyone, keep in mind that sometimes, people who end up on the Sex Offender Registry are guys in their late teens (“legal” age) who have relationships with teens (“non-legal age), so if an 18 year old man is dating a 16 year old girl, that’s a crime and that guy will be put on the registry, for what? Maybe to some people that’s an awful offense, because legally the girl can’t consent, but to others, it’s a two year difference in their ages, not the worst thing and not deserving of a lifetime of hassle.

@Stache “I’m surprised by the people here defending people on the registry.”

That’s quite remarkable, since nobody actually is.

@Stache I think we’re saying that labelling is a broad brush – and not particularly good – approach to the problem.

I’d like to see a telemarketer offender list. Just release their home numbers.

When I was 19, I dated a girl for about 7 months. After we broke up, I found out that she was only15! Until that time, it had not occurred to me, to know a girl’s age. She looked like she was about my age, so I never asked. We hung out at her place mostly, and I spoke with her mother many times. She never bothered to tell me her daughter was under age… WTF?

And of course, a girl can just lie, to a guy…

Exactly what LuckyGuy explained is why I said no. Too many people on the registry shouldn’t be. Plus, those sex offenders are living on your block every day, not just on Halloween.

I don’t know if this has changed, but teens can wind up on the sex offender list for texting naked pictures, even if they had permission.

^Agreed. They don’t just live there, on Halloween. The idea, is not very sensible.

@JLeslie In New Jersey a few years ago, some 14–15 year old girls thought it would be funny to take pics of their boobs and send them to a boy in their class.He did not ask for these pics. The boy’s mother saw the pictures on his phone and reported it.
The girls were charged with distributing child pornography! Fortunately, the boy was not charged with possession

I hope that did not put them on them on the SO list. .

@LuckyGuy I don’t know if it can put them on the list if they are under 18. One story I heard about the high school boy was 18 and girlfriend was younger, but not statutory rape younger. I think they were in the same grade. He messaged the photo I think.

Here’s a story where two girls and a boy (all three under age 17) were sending erotic photos to each other and now are on the registry (2019 story so it’s recent):

https://www.boston.com/news/national-news/2019/06/27/teen-sexting-sex-offender

@jca2 Appears like there is some incentive to register people unless the kid did something to make them throw the book at him. Regardless that’s messed up and goes against what this is for.

Parents and teachers need to be telling children this can be the consequence of sending sexy or naked photos via email, texting, or posting online, while these laws still exist. It’s pretty horrific to me that a 15 year old can wind up on the sex offender list for such things.

@JLeslie: Actually, for adults, too, they should be very leery of sending photos to others or engaging in internet stuff when they don’t know the age of the recipient.

Wikipedia Sex Offender Registry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_offender_registry

Has a lot of interesting details about the registry, who’s on it, and all kinds of info.

@jca2 Oh, absolutely, I just meant teens might have no clue that they might be doing something illegal, and that it can get them put on the sex offender list. It can affect what careers they will be allowed in, where they can live, they might have to report their location every time they move for the rest of their life, it’s a big deal.

Good point, @JLeslie, and kids often don’t think of the long term consequences of their actions.

@jca2 Thanks for finding that article. I heard about a similar case several years ago so your info is more current. I can’t believe it is still going on.

Since the age of consent in NY is 17, why aren’t investigators going after the guys who impregnate any girl under that age. And put them on the list too!

Here’s an example of how there are way more sick perverts in the general population who have, for various reasons, never made it to the list (which is why the list is deceiving, lulling people into thinking they’re not living right next to a molester when they very well might be):

When I was a caseworker, I had a case with a mom and two daughters, 3 and 5 years old. The dad had molested the kids. The kids told the mom, who immediately reported it to the police. The police arrested the dad, it became a CPS report, etc. The mom was always cooperative with CPS. She took them to therapy, signed releases, cooperated with caseworkers’ visits. The District Attorney said the kids were too young to testify in court and be credible witnesses. The dad never did any jail time, never was put on the Sex Offenders’ Registry. He let me visit a few times, did an evaluation, but no therapy, no anger management, no parenting classes, nothing of any substance. He lived with his mom and had a blue collar job. The case closed, eventually, because he had no contact with the kids and he didn’t know their new address or anything.

Would I want that guy being near my kid? No. Does the guy’s neighbor know he’s a sick pervert? No. Would the guy’s future girlfriend or wife know he’s a sick pervert? No. Can he give out candy on Halloween and nobody is the wiser? Yes.

That’s a perfect example of how the Registry is deceiving. Not all of the people that have done sick things to children are on the registry.

After reading all the responses here, I did some homework. I was under the impression that the sex offender registry was for pedophiles only.In checking further, I’ve learned that just isn’t so. I’ve also learned that many jurisdictions have online listings including the actual offense so you can determine the pedophile from the others. Still, most parents are too lazy to look up where the pedophiles live; and although it would be the parents fault, the children would still be the victim.

Why isn’t their a pedophile registry?

I also learned that some states won’t allow those on the registry to turn on their lights to indicate the have candy for children while others require them to attend meetings during the hours of trick-or-treat.

in reading further, I didn’t realize how complicated the system has made this subject. Thanks everyone for your input

Don’t forget that during things like huge celebrations, females flash their breasts, and there is rarely a ramification. But, of a guy shows his penis, he’s jailed.

There are certainly more than a few double standards. The male, usually pays the heaviest price…

So. Peeing, in the woods=sexual registry. Showing your breasts, from a balcony = nothing…

Public Nudity laws in the US: https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/nudity-and-public-decency-laws-in-america-31193

^Sill shows a double standard…
Crimes, are only crimes, if charges are filled…

@MrGrimm888 You feel breasts are on the same level of indecency regarding public nudity as a penis?

And guys show their breasts all the time, yet no one bats in eye nor is it illegal. There’s your double standard, MrGrimm888.

Guys don’t have mammary glands.

I don’t really see why there is such an issue with nudity in our culture anyway.

Breasts have nothing to do with mammary glands. Every human, male or female, has breasts.

Human males do have mammary glands, they are just not matured in most of them.
But in some cases, human males do lactate.

@JLeslie in America, yes. I feel it’s the same thing. What is the logic, behind you thinking they are different? I’m not trying to be confrontational. Just trying to figure out what the difference is, in your opinion….

@MrGrimm888 I just think the equivalent to a penis is a vagina, not breasts.

If you see a woman breast feeding is that indecent exposure? If you go to a topless beach is it the same level of nudity as a naked beach? I know men can get turned on by breasts, and I agree in America decency laws would likely include women’s breasts because of the culture, but being a woman myself, I can tell you that showing my breasts is not a big deal at all compared to showing below the waste.

Even regarding ratings I think breasts are probably PG13 and a vagina or penis would be X I would think. I don’t know the rating rules actually. I think this shows society does perceive it differently if I’m right.

I guess maybe I’m naive and it’s like how young teen girls just don’t realize how the teen boys perceive lower back tats, short skirts, and thong underwear. The girls just think it’s cool, or fashionable, and no panty lines, respectively, and the boys think it means the girls want to have sex.

I tend to be fairly modest in how I dress, but I would go to a topless beach and be topless without a care in the world before the age of a camera in every phone. Even now I might still go, but I would never strip down to totally naked.

As far as a man peeing on the side of the road, that’s ridiculous to call that indecent exposure in the situation he was in. I doubt anyone even saw his penis anyway, they probably just saw what he was doing. It’s totally different than a man peeing outside when the bathroom is right inside, but he was too drunk to give a damn. As a little girl sometimes we had to pee outside when we went to the park because we couldn’t hold it long enough like the adults out in the trails. Is that going to get my mom arrested, or put a record on me at age 5? They need to have some judgment about these things.

^I respect your opinions, but disagree with them,in a You give women a of fairness, where you decry a male. You are being a hypotricte. Congratulations to all male state of views.

GA.

There are places where women can legally be topless in the US (NYC being one of them). I think the courts therefore don’t consider breasts to be equivalent to penises or vaginas.

@MrGrimm888 What do you mean by I decry men? I said men should be given the same latitude as a small child if their bladder is about to burst.

^Excuse me. I was talking about general exposure, of external “privates.”

@jca2 . That’s true. But in certain cases, women can flash their breasts, and get no problems. But, if a male pulls his penis out, he’s a sex offender.

I don’t condone men pulling out their junk. And I enjoy when females expose themselves. But the law, clearly has a double standard. In the US…

@MrGrimm ‘enjoy when females expose themselves’

So polite its cracking me up, fr.

@MrGrimm888

And the comparison between breasts and genitalia is still asinine, no matter how much you cry “double standard, double standard” .

@MrGrimm888: What @Darth_Algar said. Breasts =/= genitals.

@MrGrimm888 Men show their breasts. Even men with large breasts show their breasts on the beaches or even on the street. Women who are flat chested can get in trouble for showing their breasts. It doesn’t really make sense, it’s just social conditioning.

If a woman pulled down her pants, that would be the equivalent to a man doing it, but if you put female breasts in the same category that’s very interesting to me and tells me something about men maybe.

Double standards & a storm in a DD cup.

Like I said. In America, it’s a double standard. And can someone please explain to me, why exposing your breasts (as a female,which is illegal,) is different from a man exposing his external private parts?

When I was a LEO, both were considered the same, under law. You can’t pull your tits out in public, even in bikini contests I ran. There were rules. No nipples, or wardrobe malfunctions, or you were automatically disqualified, and kicked out. If not arrested for indecent exposure.
But a man peeing under an overpass, makes him a sex offender?
And it’s legal for women to breast feed, in public. Am I missing something?

@MrGrimm888: I posted a list of five major cities in the US where it is not illegal for a woman to be topless. New York city is one, New Orleans is another.

My theory is that boobs are non-threatening, while a penis can be. Frankly if I saw a guy flash his junk in public, I’d laugh, not get turned on.

New Orleans, is one of the biggest cities, with double standards.

New York city is one of the biggest cities, and it has no double standards, @MrGrimm888. It’s a regular city with lots of people who commute in for work, and many residents in various types of settings (suburban to urban).

NYC
South Beach, Miami
Fort Collins, CO
Madison, WI
New Orleans, LA

are five right off the bat.

I agree with @KNOWITALL. No one is afraid of boobs, while a penis can be used as a weapon.

The man who urinated on the side of the highest in stopped traffic shouldn’t be registered as a sex offender, I don’t even think it is a police issue at all. I think we all feel the same way about that. If he does it in the middle of the street in broad daylight for everyone to see, then yes, at minimum a fine, maybe more if he is truly a flasher of some sort.

Ahem, titties can be harmful if they’re huge & you motorboat them…oh gosh, i’m so gross!

@MrGrimm888

This has been explained to you several times. At this point I have to believe you’re just being willfully obtuse.

^Believe what you want. I respect your opinion.

C’mon dude, the comparison between breasts and genitals is just ridiculous and you know it.

^Darth. You’re one of my favorite jellies. I respect your opinions, because you speak your mind. It’s an admirable trait.
I do the same. I don’t write a post, if I don’t think that I know what I’m talking about… You don’t have to respect my opinions. But I’m just being genuine. If that upsets you, I guess I will just upset you…

Sorry that we can’t get along…

Make no mistake, me pointing out that a comparison is ridiculous does not upset me. Nothing anyone posts here ever has, or ever could, upset me. I post on forums such as this because I enjoy the conversation and debate, but when it comes down to it I take it all about as seriously as I do a round of bumper cars.

^Understood.

Peace n love.