Find area sex offenders before Halloween night


NBC2 News
Last updated on: 10/30/2006 6:19:05 PM

LEE COUNTY: Deputies with the Lee County Sheriff�s Office say if you have bought the costumes and the candy and think that you are ready for Halloween night � think again. Deputies want parents to know if you don�t do your homework, you could be sending your child to the door of a sexual predator.

Lee County resident Scott Coyne says he wants to make sure his daughter Shelby�s Halloween is a safe one.

�It gets dark early now; we wanted to pick her up something a little lighter so it's easier to see,� said Coyne.

But beyond the safe costumes, candy checks, and looking both ways to cross the street, parents need to know whose door their children are about to knock on.

�We now really have to think about what house they're going to,� said Ileana Foell of the Lee County Sheriff�s Office.

Foell explained that there are hundreds of sexual offenders and predators in both Lee and Collier Counties. To find out if they live in your neighborhood, all you need to do is sign onto the internet.

�You can put in a street address and it will map out where all of the offenders are living at the moment,� said Foell.

Coyne says that he has visited sites such as familywatchdog.us and familybeacon.com three or four times every year.

�It comes up with signs and lists and some have places where they work which are helpful,� said Coyne.

�Many neighborhoods don't have offenders or predators living there. But if there is one you want to know,� said Foell.

Coyne says he makes sure he knows � especially around Halloween.

"You have to enjoy the day because the kids have to have fun. But at the same time, you've got to take care of your own,� said Coyne.

Statistics show that one in five girls and one out of six boys are molested before the age of 18. The numbers also show that 90 percent of molestations are done by someone the child knows.

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