La Mesa 2018 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map

LA MESA, CA – Before kids go out trick-or-treating on Halloween, fall is a good time to take an inventory of who is living in your neighborhood. La Mesa currently has 63 registered sex offenders listed on the California Sex Offender Registry.

The California Department of Justice has a website called Megan's Law, which provides information on registered sex offenders pursuant to California Penal Code § 290.46, so that members of the public can better protect themselves and their families.

SEE MAP HERE

According to the website, there are 63 registered sex offenders in La Mesa. You may want to avoid trick-or-treating at these houses and apartments on Halloween, or merely be aware of who's living in your neighborhood during the rest of the year.

Law enforcement officials and researchers caution that the registries can play only a limited role in preventing child sexual abuse and stress that most perpetrators are known to the child. The U.S. Department of Justice, which oversees the National Sex Offender Public Website, estimates that only about 10 percent of perpetrators of child sexual abuse are strangers to the child.

The Justice Department estimates 60 percent of perpetrators are known to the child but are not family members but rather family friends, babysitters, child care providers and others, and 30 percent of child victims are abused by family members. Nearly a quarter of the abusers are under the age of 18, the department estimates.

For more details and to check your ZIP code or city for registered sex offenders, visit the Megan's Law website.

Related coverage:

• Sex Offender Advocates Object To Local Mapping Of Registered Sex Criminals
• Why Patch Publishes Sex Offender Registry Maps

Source: Megan's Law website