Jefferson County law enforcement agencies tried to make Halloween night a little safer for children this year.
On Oct. 31, the Sheriff’s Office, along with the Arnold, De Soto, Byrnes Mill, Festus and Hillsboro police departments, completed compliance checks at 136 homes where registered sex offenders live.
Missouri law requires registered sex offenders to avoid all Halloween-related contact with children; remain in their homes between 5-10:30 p.m. on Halloween, unless there is just cause, such as employment or medical emergencies to leave their home; and to leave all outside home lights off after 5 p.m. on Halloween.
The compliance checks were conducted in coordination with the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Compliance violations may be prosecuted as class A misdemeanors, which are punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.
The Sheriff’s Office reported that a total of five violations were found in the county on Oct. 31.
Two of the violations were in unincorporated Jefferson County – one for not providing notification about moving, and the other was because the sex offender returned home after the period he was supposed to be inside his home because he had been visiting his mother at a nursing home, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
The other three violations were in Arnold, and the Arnold Police referred those violations to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Detective Lt. Jeremy Christopher said.
“Our goal is to keep Jefferson County the safest community in the region, specifically on Halloween night when many of our families and children will be out and about participating in Halloween activities,” said Sheriff’s Office Lt. Col. Tim Whitney.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol database, 543 registered sex offenders live in Jefferson County.
Whitney said deputies and police officers mainly performed compliance checks at homes of offenders whose victim or victims were children.
“It is always important to keep our community safe,” Arnold Police Maj. Clinton Wooldridge said. “This is something we (Arnold Police) have never done before on Halloween. We want to keep the community safe, especially when it comes to children.”
Whitney said 15 deputies who were scheduled to work Halloween night completed the compliance checks at 80 homes throughout the county, and contacted 66 of the 80 residents.
The Sheriff’s Office reported that some of the 14 registered sex offenders who were not contacted were at work on Oct. 31, and no one answered the door at the other homes.
Festus Polic officers found no violations at 30 homes, and De Soto Police completed nine address checks and found no violations.
Byrnes Mill Police reported officers did not find any violations in city limits, but the department did not report how many homes were checked.
Herculaneum Police were scheduled to take part in the compliance initiative, but the department did not complete the home checks due to an officer shortage.
Hillsboro Police Chief Darrick Curtis said an officer who already was on duty that night checked on one home to assure compliance and no one was home at the house.
“It is important to have the collaboration between the agencies,” Curtis said. “As far as checking the compliance, it is one of those things you don’t want to see go by the wayside. It is an important aspect of the offender registration parameters.”
Jefferson County’s compliance enforcement came on the heels of an Oct. 2 ruling that removed one of the state’s Halloween requirements for registered sex offenders.
U.S. District Judge John Ross ruled that a 2008 law requiring registered Missouri sex offenders in Missouri to post a sign on Oct. 31 stating that “No candy or treats at this residence” violated the First Amendment by forcing “compelled speech,” depriving those on the registry “of their freedom to speak in their own words or to not speak at all.”
Whitney said the removal of the sign provision was not a factor in the county’s law enforcement agencies to check on compliance this year.
“These conversations were happening before then,” he said. “One of the things our community is good at is law enforcement leaders meet regularly, and because of that ongoing communication, this came up at one of our meetings. Everybody felt strongly that this was a good initiative to protect our children and citizens of Jefferson County.”
Whitney said the Sheriff’s Office has deputies complete at least two random address verifications at least twice a year to make sure registered sex offenders follow terms of their probation.
Patti Short, the Sheriff’s Office victim services coordinator who oversees the sex offender registry, said she was happy agencies added the extra Halloween compliance checks this year.
She also said most registered sex offenders comply with the terms of their probation.
“I have been in the position for five years, and we have had two or three (violations) in that time,” Short said.