Plainfield 2019 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map

PLAINFIELD, 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. Plainfield has 44 registered sex offenders living in the village, three less than were in town around Halloween last year, according to the Illinois Sex Offender Registry.

Thirty-two registered sex offenders have known addresses in Plainfield, while four others are listed as "out of state" and seven others are incarcerated. Like last year, sexual predator Jesus A. Lemus, convicted on child porn charges in Will County, is listed as location unknown. Lemus was arrested in Joliet in 2015 and charged with child porn for filming a teenage couple having sex.

Here is where sex offenders are registered as living in Plainfield. 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