Trick-Or-Treating Tonight? Know Who Lives In Your Neighborhood.

ST. LOUIS, MO — Before sending the kids out trick or treating on Halloween, it might be a good time to take an inventory of who is living in your neighborhood. Patch has created sex offender safety maps for many St. Louis and St. Louis County neighborhoods. Find yours here:

• St. Louis Hills 2018 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map
• St. Charles 2018 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map
• Kirkwood 2018 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map
• Maplewood 2018 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map
• Hazelwood 2018 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map
• Clayton-Richmond Heights 2018 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map
• University City 2018 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map

Roll your cursor over the pins, and you will see more information pop up, including the registered sex offender's name, address, date of birth and convictions. If your neighborhood isn't listed, visit the state sex offender registry and put in your address to search your neighborhood.

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A 2010 law prevents registered sex offenders from handing out candy on Halloween or appearing in costume in public. Further, they are to remain inside their residences between 5:00 and 10:30 p.m. unless they have cause to leave, leave all outside residential lighting off during trick-or-treating hours, and post a sign stating: "No candy or treats at this residence."

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 — 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.

Source: Missouri Sex Offender Registry

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