With Halloween coming up soon, Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator is urging parents to check the Sex Offender Registry before taking the kids out trick-or-treating.

Just go to the Sheriff's Office website and click the "Sex Offender Registry" button at the bottom of the page. You can quickly search for offenders in your area using the statewide database by entering your home address. That'll bring up a printable map of your neighborhood and any offenders in the surrounding area.

"We do our best to ensure sex offenders live where they tell us, but it is up to our citizens to utilize these online tools to see who the registered sex offenders are and where they are living," Sheriff Prator said in a CSO news release.

He also suggests that while you're on the website, you register for free email alerts any time an offender moves within one mile of any address you enter.

Here are some alarming statistics from the Department of Justice and Watch Systems LLC:

An estimated 80% of all addresses have at least one sex offender within one mile. Forty-five percent of sexual assault victims are under twelve, and 75% of victims know their attacker. Over half of all sexual assaults occur within one mile of the victim’s home.

"There are currently 549 sex offenders living in Caddo Parish. Another 201 with Caddo Parish residences are incarcerated," Prator said. "It's important that parents know which homes their children are visiting."

 

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