Parole staff of the Kansas Department of Corrections will intensify supervision of paroled sex offenders through the Halloween season, according to an announcement from KDOC’s public information officer Bill Miskell.
“Parole staff will make unannounced visits to sex offenders’ homes in the days leading up to and throughout Halloween,” Miskell said. “Officers also will meet with offenders to review special conditions imposed during the season,” such as prohibiting them from handing out candy or displaying Halloween decorations.
In Lyon County, no special plan has been developed; the area has only one sex offender on parole. That person will be required to post a sign on the door, identifying him or her as a sex offender, according to Robert Sullivan, director of Community Corrections for the Fifth Judicial District.
Sullivan noted that there are numerous other convicted sex offenders in the area who are not supervised by officers in his office.
“We have no legal authority over them if they’re not on probation,” Sullivan said. “... Some of those folks have served their prison sentences ... or they’ve successfully completed probation or parole, and they’re out in the community again.”
National data shows that sex offender acts against children while participating in traditional Halloween activities is extremely rare, the news release said.
“The Department of Corrections realizes that parents are the primary source to promote a safe Halloween,” Corrections Secretary Roger Werholtz said in the release. “However, we impose these special conditions during this time of year to give Kansans added assurance as trick-or-treaters go door to door in our neighborhoods.”
Among the restrictions imposed, offenders must:
• not possess items that would entice children under the age of 18
• not leave candy or treats on the front porch or elsewhere on their property
• not be at a residence where candy is being passed out to minor children
• turn off all lights on their front porch and garage area
• not answer the door to anyone other than an adult family member or friend, or emergency personnel
• not have contact or attempt contact with children without the permission of the parole officer
• not take walks in their neighborhood on Halloween.
Each parole office also has developed plans for case management of its offenders. In some areas, such as the Topeka Parole Office, high-risk offenders will be required to report to the parole office on Halloween night. In Olathe, individual plans have been developed for certain high-risk offenders.
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Posted by Happiness08 (anonymous) on November 3, 2008 at 1:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How far are we going to push the sex offender thing? Do they seriously expect someone to post a sign on their door saying they are a sex offender !? That's absurd! Maybe the next thing they will come up with is having people who have been convicted of DUI's post a sign on their door stating "I drive drunk". I think the registered sex offender issue is pushed way too far. In the State of Kansas if a person is 16 and has sex with a 15 year old they are a "sex offender" whether it was consential sex or not. Give them a break. If they did the crime and are registered sex offenders then they did the time. Get the details of the "offense" and the facts before we start labeling people.
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