Brockton 2018 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Guide

BROCKTON, MA — 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. Brockton has 138 registered sex offenders listed on the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry.

Most of the offenders listed are level three, as there's 103 of them. Another 35 are level two sex offenders. Level three registered sex offenders are considered "high risk" to repeat a sex crime, while level two offenders pose a "moderate" risk to re-offend. The identities of level one offenders are not publicized online.

In Massachusetts, sex offenders are ineligible to live in public housing and may not work as ice cream vendors, but keep the vast majority of their rights. The offenders are not wanted by police, and it's illegal to use the following information to commit a crime or engage in any discrimination or harassment against an offender.

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.

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