Crystal Lake, Cary 2018 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map

CRYSTAL LAKE-CARY, IL -- 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. Crystal Lake and Cary currently have a combined 37 registered sex offenders listed on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry, 28 of whom are classified as sexual predators.

Twenty-nine are currently living in the Crystal Lake community, one is homeless and one are incarcerated in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Cary counts four registered sex offenders living in the community, all of whom are considered sexual predators, according to the Illinois Sex Offender Registry. One is incarcerated.

Two Crystal Lake sex offenders are missing. Charles Pool, 63, whose last known address is in Crystal Lake, was convicted of criminal sexual assault by force. The victim was 26, and Pool was 36 at the time of the offense. Marcelino Cruz, 65, another sexual predator, is missing from his last known address. Cruz was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. The victim was 13, and Cruz was 52 at the time of the offense, according to the Illinois Sex Offender Registry.

Pins on the map represent addresses of offenders convicted of sex crimes. Roll your cursor over the pins, and you will see more information pop up, including the registered sex offender's name, address, current age, convictions, and the age of the offender and victim at the time of the offense. Or, click on the link to view a larger map.

Registered sex offenders are prohibited from passing out candy on Halloween. They may not appear in a Halloween costume or other child-centered holiday character, such as Santa and the Easter Bunny, in public. Registered sex offenders, however, may wear a Halloween costume in their home, according to the Illinois Sex Offender Registry.

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.

Source: Illinois Sex Offender Registry

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