Vienna 2018 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map

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. Vienna has 17 registered sex offenders listed on the Virginia Sex Offender Registry. The list does not include 34 others who work there and one person who is wanted.

In Virginia, registered sex offenders are prohibited from passing out candy on Halloween—if they have restrictions related to probation supervision not allowing contact with children. That means they may not turn their porch lights on or open the door to trick-or-treaters, according to the Virginia Sex Offender Registry. On Halloween, Virginia State Police's Sex Offender Investigative Unit works with the Department of Corrections Probation and Parole to check on sex offenders under supervision.

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.

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 victim at the time of the offense. Or, click on the link to view a larger map.

Image: Patch graphic