Officers to monitor sex offenders on Halloween

There will be no tricks, treats or Halloween parties this year for many of Virginia's convicted sex criminals.

Officers with the Virginia Department of Corrections and the Virginia State Police are teaming up again to make sure registered sex offenders who are under state supervision won't cause any harm to young ghouls and goblins.

Authorities are requiring sex offenders to either gather at their local parole office for several hours tonight, or remain inside their homes with porch lights off and no exterior decorations and not answer the door for costumed children. To ensure compliance, police also may conduct random checks by phone or in person.

"It's just another supervisory tool to let the public feel safe and also to acknowledge the whereabouts of these sex offenders," said Corrections Department spokesman Larry Traylor. "And it kind of gives [offenders] a bit of an alibi so that they feel safer on Halloween night, as well."

The programs, called Operation Porch Lights Out and Trick-No-Treat, were launched in 2001 as a collaborative effort between the Corrections Department, state police and local law enforcement.

Each district probation and parole office in Virginia has decided how it will monitor the registered sex offenders in their region on Halloween.

Virginia State Police Sgt. Robert Holland stressed that authorities are only monitoring registered sex offenders who are currently on state probation or parole, or about 3,000 people. In all, there are 16,172 registered sex offenders in Virginia.

"If a sex offender is not on probation, there's no restrictions on him for trick or treating," Holland said. "As long as they're not doing anything illegal," those offenders can participate in traditional Halloween activities, Holland said.

In the Richmond area, district offices that cover the city of Richmond, the town of Ashland and the counties of Henrico and Hanover have instructed sex offenders to remain in their homes with lights out and no decorations, according to a Corrections Department outline. In addition, officers will conduct random checks.

The same holds true for district offices covering the cities of Petersburg and Hopewell and the counties of Dinwiddie, Prince George, Amelia, Powhatan, Goochland and Louisa.

The district office serving New Kent and Charles City counties require offenders to remain in their homes, but no spot checks will be conducted.

Conversely, offenders being supervised in Chesterfield and Colonial Heights have been instructed to report to the district office and stay there from dusk until about 10 p.m.

"If they're in a lockdown status at the probation office, we're going to have troopers there talking to them, educating them," Holland said. "If they're locked down at their house, we ride around with probation [officers] that night, making sure that they know that there are going to be spot checks. Some areas we're going to be able to check every one of them that night."

Before venturing into neighborhoods tonight, Holland encouraged parents and other interested parties to check the Virginia Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry to identify the addresses of offenders in their neighborhoods. Site users can determine which offenders are on active probation or parole moving their computer cursor over the offender's photo.

"Why not use the information on the Web site to be careful about where you go and what doors you knock on?" Holland said.