Halloween is this Thursday, which means thousands of children will be going door to door asking for candy. But do you really know who the stranger is behind the door your child is knocking on?
Although many law enforcement agencies encourage registered sex offenders to leave their lights off and not decorate for the popular holiday, there are no certainties that they will listen.
Florida has more than 30,000 in-state sex offenders and sex predators who were convicted of sex crimes in its statewide database.
Sex offenders are required to register their permanent address with law enforcement. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement maintains a database with this information. Many of them continue to live among us after serving time.
According to the FDLE, the information posted about an offender in their database is not intended to indicate that any judgment has been made about the level of risk a particular offender may present to others, but rather to allow people to form their own risk assessments based on the offender's personal circumstances and conviction history.
Before you head out be sure to search your neighborhood or the neighborhood your child will be trick-or-treating in on Halloween.
To look up sexual offenders and predators in other states, click here.
