South Carolina to enforce Halloween curfew for supervised sex offenders

The South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole, and Pardon Services has announced it will be enforcing a statewide curfew for sex offenders on Halloween, according to reports from WPDE.

During the curfew, all supervised sex offenders are required to stay inside their homes from 5:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. They will also not be allowed to have their porch or exterior lights on, hand out candy, or participate in any Halloween parties or festivals.

SCDPPPS told WPDE that the restriction applies to all people under supervision for a sex offense whose crime is against a child. They added that the curfew doesn’t apply to all registered sex offenders, as many are no longer on probation or parole.

“They’re not allowed to have any kind of decorations on their house; they can’t do the trick-or-treating participation; they can’t, obviously; they can’t go out; they have to remain in their homes,” said Taylor Cox, Field Program Director for SCDPPPS.

SCDPPPS also told WPDE that agents will be conducting random home searches throughout the night to make sure the rules are being enforced and that these precautions are only taken during Halloween.

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“The amount of children that will be out during this, it would almost make it impossible for offenders to not have contact. And our goal is to remove that temptation from them,” Cox said.

WPDE reports that there were 675 home checks and 2 arrests in 2022.

Cox said the department is currently supervising over 700 sex offenders in the state, but there are tens of thousands on the registry.

Cox urged parents to educate themselves on the predators in their area by going to the state sex offender website, especially if they have young children.

“They’re very much able to operate discreetly, to where you might not be aware to what is going on. So just taking necessary precautions to make sure you’re aware of what your kids are going to, who they’re speaking with, who they’re interacting with. It’s going to make them a much harder target,” Cox told WPDE.

For a list of sex offenders in your area, visit the State Law Enforcement Division website here.

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