Bolingbrook 2019 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map

BOLINGBROOK, IL — Fall is a good time to take an inventory of who is living in your neighborhood, before kids go out trick or treating on Halloween. Bolingbrook has 44 registered sex offenders living in the village, four more than were living in the village around Halloween last year, according to the Illinois Sex Offender Registry.

Thirty-eight registered sex offenders have known addresses in Bolingbrook, including one man who is considered to be non-compliant with sex registry laws, according to state police. Six Bolingbrook sex offenders are listed as being incarcerated. One offender has an unknown address: Virgilio Lopez was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a 13-year-old, and does not have a known address.

Here is where sex offenders are registered as living in Bolingbrook. 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, date of birth and convictions.

Registered sex offenders are prohibited from passing out candy on Halloween. They may not appear in a Halloween costume or other child-centered holiday character, such as Santa or the Easter Bunny, in public. Registered sex offenders, however, may wear a Halloween costume in their home, according to the Illinois Sex Offender Registry.

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. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

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.

Related Coverage

• Sex Offender Advocates Object To Local Mapping Of Registered Sex Criminals
• Why Patch Publishes Sex Offender Registry Maps

Source: Illinois Sex Offender Registry