By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Buchanan County deputies will be out in force tonight, making sure trick or treaters are safe from sex offenders.
Sheriff Bill Puett says his department takes very seriously its duty to make sure those on the sex offender registry list abide by the rules and have nothing to do with handing out candy to children tonight. Puett says deputies will begin checking on the residences of registered sex offenders early in the evening and could well return later in the evening.
“We don’t want to check early and then somebody think that, hey, well the sheriff’s been here so we’re going to go ahead and throw the light on and do this and do that and violate that sex offender registry statute,” Puett says.
Bill Puett says his deputies are very thorough.
“We look for all the violations,” Puett says. “Is the property posted? Are the lights off and not handing out candy? Are they there, like they’re supposed to be? All those things.”
Under both state and federal law, anyone on the sex offender registry list cannot participate in any way in any Halloween activities involving children, including handing out candy to trick or treaters tonight.
Puett says up to 19 two-person teams will be out tonight to make sure registered sex offenders comply with the law. Puett says his department receives help from the St. Joseph Police Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and even the U.S. Marshal’s Office, which looks for violations of federal sex offender statues. Volunteers also join the effort on Halloween.
Puett says offenders, for the most part, obey the law.
“Typically, we have very, very good compliance and most everybody follows the statute. Whether they like it or not, they know it exists,” according to Puett. “They know the consequences for not following the law. And so, they will do that. They do what they’re supposed to.”
Puett says that on any given Halloween, his department finds only one or two offenders who violate state and federal law.