Dunwoody Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map

DUNWOODY, GA -- 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. Dunwoody currently has two registered sex offenders listed on the Georgia Sex Offender Registry.

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.

The Georgia Sex Offender Registry is maintained by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which stressed that since the information is provided by various law enforcement agencies and is constantly changing, the bureau makes no promise or any express or implied guarantee concerning the accuracy of this information.

Georgia law defines a sex offender as any individual who has been convicted of a criminal offense against a victim who is a minor or any dangerous sexual offense; a person who has been convicted under the laws of another state or territory, under the laws of the United States, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, or in a tribal court of a criminal offense against a victim who is a minor or a dangerous sexual offense.

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.

Source: Georgia Sex Offender Registry

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