Halloween Sex Offender App Fuels False Fears

For parents worried about the safety of their little ghosts and goblins this Halloween, there’s a new iPhone application that claims to locate registered sex offenders.

According to an ABC News.com story,

“Launched by ThinAir Wireless, a GPS-tracking and wireless monitoring company, the Offender Locator iPhone application lets users view registered sex offenders living in their area. The app comes in free and paid versions, but after nearly two months in the App store, the 99-cent application is among the ten best-selling paid apps. Amid the games and entertainment applications, Offender Locator has grabbed the sixth spot on the list.”

While the smart phone app may make some parents feel safer, it is a false sense of security. Contrary to popular perception (and the name of the application), the app does not track nor locate convicted sex offenders, merely the addresses where they are registered as residing.

Simply knowing where a convicted sex offender lives tells you nothing about who might answer the door, since unless he or she lives alone, there will likely be non-sex offenders at the residence. Furthermore, many sex offender registries are out of date, and convicted sex offenders can move freely anywhere during Halloween, from public places to other peoples’ houses -- or may be trick-or-treating with their own kids.

But don’t children need extra protection on Halloween? The premise that children are at increased risk from sex offenders has been studied -- and disproven. Recent research has shown that the public has little to fear from sex offenders during All Hallow’s Eve. One study titled “How Safe Are Trick-or-Treaters?” was published in the September 2009 issue of Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment and examined 67,307 non-family sex offenses reported to law enforcement in 30 states over nine years. The conclusion was that children are at no greater risk for sexual assault around Halloween that any other time: "There does not appear to be a need for alarm concerning sexual abuse on these particular days. Halloween appears to be just another autumn day where rates of sex crimes against children are concerned,” the researchers reported.

There’s yet another popular myth in all this: Multiple Department of Justice studies have concluded that sex offenders are no more likely to re-offend than other criminals. In fact, the greatest threat to children comes not from strangers or convicted sex offenders, but from the children’s parents and trusted guardians. Parents should of course guard their children, but there is no evidence that sex offenders are a particular threat to kids, during Halloween or any other time.