Halloween Safety: Know Where The Sex Offenders Are in Your Area

HOUSTON, TX -- Halloween is here, and it's a good idea for parents to know where the sex offenders are before the kids don their costumes and start going door-to-door.

In Harris County, there are more than 8,500 registered sex offenders, and fortunately law enforcement officials know where most of them are located.

The Texas Department of Public Safety logs all registered sex offenders based off of their addresses and provides an interactive map for residents to use to identify the addresses and information of registered sex offenders.

What many parents may not know, but need to, is that registered sex offenders are not -- in many cases-- prohibited from participating in Halloween activities, and only certain sex offenders with specific probationary requirements are prohibited from handing out candy to children.

When Halloween is approaching, law enforcement step up their checks of registered sex offenders in advance of the holiday.

Parents can also check for sex offenders in their area by checking the interactive map, which allows users to map the locations of registered sex offenders.

While some areas of Houston and Harris County are sparsely populated with sex offenders, others are densely populated.

The 77078 zip code northeast of Beltway 8 holds the most registered offenders in Harris County, followed by 77026 in Kashmere Gardens.

To find sex offenders in your area, click the interactive map and enter an address to see where any registered sex offenders live in the area, as well as a photo, address and age.