Seasonal & Holidays
Lake Forest-Lake Bluff 2018 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map
Find out where registered sex offenders are living in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff before the kids go out trick or treating.
LAKE FOREST, 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. Lake Forest and Lake Bluff currently have nine registered sex offenders listed on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry living in town, seven of whom are classified as sexual predators. That total includes two in Lake Forest and seven in Lake Bluff, all of whom are classified as sexual predators.
Pins on the map 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 name, address, current age, convictions, and the age of the offender and victim at the time of the offense.
Find out what's happening in Lake Forest-Lake Bluffwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
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.
Find out what's happening in Lake Forest-Lake Bluffwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
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:
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
