Niles, Morton Grove 2019 Sex Offender Safety Map

NILES-MORTON GROVE, 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.

Niles and Morton Grove have 17 registered sex offenders listed on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry, with 13 of them residing in Niles and one currently in state prison. Eight registered offenders are classified as sexual predators subject to lifetime registration.

As of October 2019, all but one local sex offender is in compliance with the state's Sex Offender Registration Act. One child sex offender, Triantafilos Tottas, 66, fled an address in Morton Grove in 2018 without providing notification to the state, according to Illinois State Police records.

Pins on the map below 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 image, name, address, current age, convictions and the age of the offender and victim at the time of the offense.

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.

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 and the Easter Bunny, in public. Registered sex offenders, however, may wear a Halloween costume in their home, according to the Illinois Sex Offender Registry. 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.

Related:

• Sex Offender Advocates Object To Local Mapping Of Registered Sex Criminals
• Why Patch Publishes Sex Offender Registry Maps