Probation Officers Check On Offenders For Halloween
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Sex offender officers put on their bullet-proof vests and prepared to visit the house where they say a violent sex offender lives. A child’s basketball net stands less than fifty feet from his door. The man was not home. According to district director Jeff Barnett, the man failed to tell them he was leaving the county. “Another party at the home said that he had gone to Nashville. We will do some investigating to see if a violation needs to be filed,” Barnett said. Less than three miles away, another stop at the trailer of where the director says a sex offender lives. According to Probation and Parole officials, the man had sex with a minor under the age of 16. The man answered the door and talked. The visit lasted five minutes. “He was in compliance. He did have a fall decoration that we asked him to take down. It wasn’t a trick-or-treat type, we asked him to take it down,” said Barnett. You might be surprised just who your neighbors are. Probation and Parole officials urge parents to visit the TBI website and find out where sexual offenders live. “All of the sex offenders have a 1,000 feet residential restriction against playgrounds, daycares, school zones and we enforce that,” said Barnett. Sex offenders are not allowed to answer the door to trick-or-treaters. They must keep their porch lights off Halloween night and they are not allowed to wear a costume “We just want to make sure that the offenders know in advance we are going to be looking to limit the chance contact the sex offender has with children,” said Barnett.
