Anchorage 2018 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map

ANCHORAGE, AK — 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. Anchorage currently has more than 1,300 names on its sex offender/child kidnapper registry and the state provides a free map that allows you to find the offenders in your neighborhood. The list does not appear to be sortable to only include child sex offenders, meaning people convicted of any violent sexual assault will appear on the list.

More than 160 offenders live in the 99508 zip code and over 230 live in the 99501 zip code, according to the registry. Among the offenses you'll find: sexual abuse of a minor, attempted sexual assault, possession of child pornography, indecent exposure and unlawful exploitation of a minor. Click here to pull up a map of the offenders and click on a blue dot near your neighborhood. Green pins on the map represent addresses of offenders convicted of sex crimes. If you click on the pin, you will see more information pop up, including the registered sex offender's name, address and compliance status. A link labeled "more information" will bring up the offender's crimes.

Registered sex offenders are often not allowed to pass out candy on Halloween or appear in a costume or other child-centered holiday character, such as Santa and the Easter Bunny, in public. Some states allow registered sex offenders, to wear a Halloween costume in their home though.

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.

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.

Photo credit: Patch graphic