West Des Moines 2017 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map

WEST DES MOINES, IA — As kids prepare to go trick-or-treating on Beggars' Night, a number of safety factors should be discussed, from watching for traffic to not eating treats until a parent has checked them. Fall also is a good time to take inventory of who is living in your neighborhood since children will be visiting homes where they may not be familiar with the occupants.

There are 31 registered sex offenders listed on the Iowa Sex Offender Registry with a West Des Moines address. Only eight of the 31 are not on active supervision. Among those registered as living in West Des Moines are one who is classified as "whereabouts unconfirmed" and one who reported being homeless and listing the Windsor Heights Walmart parking lot as his address. It was entered in state data as Eighth Street in West Des Moines.

While no Iowa laws prohibit sex offenders from participating in Halloween or Beggars' Night activities, several states do have such bans. In neighboring Illinois, for example, registered sex offenders are prohibited from passing out candy on Halloween. They may not appear in a Halloween costume or dress as any child-centered holiday character, such as Santa or the Easter Bunny, in public.

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Information on Iowa's registered offenders can be found on Iowa Sex Offender Registry website. Patch has provided a map of the registered offenders who list West Des Moines addresses, below. Only Tier 2 and 3 offenders, a classification denoting the seriousness of the crime for which they were convicted and the likelihood of reoffending, are listed.

In the event your mobile browser does not support this Google map, you can follow the link here to the map: West Des Moines 2017 Sex Offender Safety Map

Pins on the map represent the home addresses of offenders convicted of sex crimes as they have provided them to authorities. Click on each pin and you will see more information pop up, including the registered sex offender’s name and address, crime and the sex and age category of victims.

The list is for public information only, and cannot be used to unlawfully injure, harass, or commit a crime against any individual named in the registry or residing or working at any reported address, police said. Such action could result in civil or criminal penalties.

The map is provided each fall by Patch. A group advocating for sexual offenders, NARSOL, has objected to Patch about its release, and you can read a letter from that group here.

Image via patch.com