'Intensified Sex Offender Monitoring' In Town On Halloween

EAST HAMPTON, NY — East Hampton Town Police are engaged in "intensified sex offender monitoring" on Halloween.

According to East Hampton Town Police, authorities commenced an operation prioritizing sex offender monitoring that began in the early morning hours Wednesday and is expected to continue through Halloween night.

The initiative consists of several detectives conducting intensified supervision of registered sex offenders, visiting the homes of those offenders and conducting random surveillance to ensure compliance with state and local laws, police said.

"The safety of our children is a top priority in East Hampton," police said.

The East Hampton Police Department also offered tips to ensure kids are kept out of harm's way:

• Make sure older children take friends and stay together while trick-or-treating.
• Never send younger children out alone — they should be with another parent, guardian, or trusted adult.
• Always walk younger children to the door to receive treats.
• Don't let children enter a home unless you are with them.
• Be sure children do not approach any vehicle, occupied or not, unless you are with them.

According to Patch's "East Hampton, Montauk, 2018 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map," East Hampton and Montauk currently have eight registered sex offenders as of October, 2018, according to the New York State Sex Offender Registry.

Markers on the map represent addresses of offenders convicted of sex crimes. Click on the markers on the map to learn more information about the offender's name, age and offense. The state's registry does not include information on Level 1 sex offenders, who are considered to have a low risk of a repeat offense.

More than half of rape/sexual assault incidents happen within a mile of the victim's home, according to the United States Department of Justice. About 75 percent of victims know their attacker and 45 percent of victims are under 12-years-old.

The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services maintains the registry and updates information regularly, but information can change quickly. Information is often provided by offenders themselves as required by law.

According to Operation Halloween, during the annual Halloween celebration, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision imposes special conditions on sex offenders under its supervision. These special conditions are a proactive measure designed to protect New York's children and the community during trick-or-treating, the site says.

Halloween conditions require that sex offenders remain indoors at home on Halloween, not wear Halloween costumes, not open their doors to trick-or-treaters, and not have Halloween candy in their possession. Operation Halloween was implemented in 2006, the page said.

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.

Parents For Megan's Law also offered its Halloween Safety Tips:

• Check www.parentsformeganslaw.org for registered sex offenders in your neighborhood and sign up for the free sex offender email alert program.
• Never allow children or teens to trick or treat alone.
• Always accompany young children to the doors of homes they approach.
• Never allow kids to enter a home without permission from a parent.
• Never allow children to approach any vehicle unless they know the owner.
• Always have children carry a flashlight or glow stick.
• Never approach a house that is not well-lit.
• Always scream, kick and punch anyone who tries to grab or force kids to go with them.
• Never consume unwrapped prepackaged treats.
• Always carefully inspect treats for open wrappers.

Patch photo by Lisa Finn.