Sex Offenders Reminded Of Halloween Protocol By Hillsborough Sheriff

TAMPA, FL — For more than a month, Hillsborough County Sheriff's detectives have gone door to door reminding registered sex offenders that they cannot participate in Halloween activities, and Sheriff Chad Chronister went door-knocking Monday in the unincorporated parts of the county to share the message.

Authorities reminded sex offenders about Halloween restrictions: no candy, no decorations, and no porch lights should be on at their homes.

“The lights to be shut off to the house,” Chronister told an offender, WFLA reported. “Nothing that would entice a child to come to the house, no handing out candy, no costumes.”

Breaking these rules is considered an automatic violation and can lead to an arrest.

His office will have extra officers working on Halloween, Chronister said.

Detectives have been doing compliance checks for the last month of the county's 1,435 registered offenders.

“We all know that universal sign is when the lights are off ... it means that I’m not participating in Halloween,” Chronister said at a news conference. “That means parents shouldn’t allow their children to go to that house.”

Chronister said compliance this year is better than last year.

Six offenders out of the 1,435 weren’t in compliance, he said, with three arrested and arrest warrants issued for three others.

Last year, the sheriff’s office issued nine arrest warrants, usually when a sex offender isn’t living where they are registered.

You can check where sex offenders and predators are living near your neighborhood, on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s database.