NEW LENOX, 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. New Lenox currently has 12 registered sex offenders listed on 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.
One registered offender—Noah Upchurch, 27—is currently incarcerated in the Illinois Department of Corrections. His crime is listed as criminal sexual abuse, victim can't consent. The victim was 50 years old; Upchurch was 24.
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 or the Easter Bunny, in public. Registered sex offenders, however, may wear a Halloween costume in their home, according to the Illinois law.
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.
Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Justice confirms that over 90 percent of child sexual abuse victims know their abuser. The vast majority of these offenses are perpetrated by someone the child and their family know, trust, and rely on, the Will County Children's Advocacy Center said.
Offenders are often family members, relatives, family friends, babysitters, neighbors, or individuals in positions of authority (such as coaches, teachers, youth ministers). Abusers frequently use a process called "grooming," which involves spending weeks or months building trust and accessing the child in seemingly safe environments.
The Association for the Treatment of Sex Abusers, a nonprofit organization for clinicians, researchers, educators, law enforcement and court officials involved in sexual abuse cases, cautions that children do not face a heightened risk during the Halloween season: "There is no change in the rate of sexual crimes by non-family members during Halloween. That was true both before and after communities enacted laws to restrict the activities of registrants during Halloween. The crimes that do increase around Halloween are vandalism and property destruction, as well as theft, assault, and burglary."
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