East Palo Alto 2018 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map

EAST PALO ALTO, CA — 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. East Palo Alto currently has 66 registered sex offenders listed on the California Department of Justice's Megan's Law web site, which provides information on registered sex offenders pursuant to California Penal Code § 290.46, so that the public can better protect themselves and their families.

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.