Wellesley's 2017 Halloween Sex Offender Safety Map​

WELLESLEY, MA — Before kids go out trick or treating on Halloween, fall is a good time to take an inventory of who is living in the neighborhood. There are two sex offenders listed in the state registry who go to school in town (both attend Mass Bay Community College) but there appear to be no registered sex offenders who work or live in town.

A Level 3 sex offender is designated to the most severe sex offenders with the highest risk of offending again, according to authorities. Level 2 sex offenders have a moderate risk of re-offending and pose a moderate degree of danger to the public. The public can access information about both through local police departments and through the online registry.
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These offenders are not wanted by police, and using this information to harass, discriminate against, or harm these individuals is against the law.
State law requires offenders to register an address if it's their primary residence, their place of employment, their post-secondary school location or a secondary address where they reside or visit for more than 14 days total throughout the year.
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.
In some states sex offenders are not permitted to open their doors on Halloween. In Massachusetts, sex offenders can't run an ice cream truck. And a Federal law makes Dangerous Sex Offenders ineligible for Public Housing. But in 2015, a city ordinance that limited where sex offenders could live was deemed unconstitutional, where the fabric of state law "evinces the Legislature's intent to have the first and final word on the subject of residency of sex offenders," according to the state website. Otherwise sex offenders mostly retain their rights.
And perhaps rightly so, say advocates of lax sex offender laws. A number of studies have shown that most children who are sexually abused know their abuser. These abusers are often a family member or close acquaintance. A Bureau of Justice Statistics report showed that only 7 percent of those who sexually abused juveniles were strangers to their victims.
According to national safety statistics, a higher risk for children on the holiday is being hit by a car: Double the number of children are hit by cars on Halloween compared to other days of the year. Wearing a flammable costume too close to a fire is also a top safety issue that police and hospitals see. Wearing reflective gear and reminding children to be aware of their surroundings during their pillaging can be helpful, say experts.