Posted on 11/03/2013 4:00:08 PM PST by nickcarraway
Parole agents with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation used a variety of tactics to keep registered sex offenders from coming into contact with children this Halloween.
The long running statewide program known as "Operation Boo" involves agents tracking parolees wearing GPS monitors and checking on them at their homes, but some say another strategy has proven equally as important.
More than 50 transient sex offenders with crimes involving children were required to report the Oakland parole office from 5pm until 10 p.m., peak hours for trick or treating. Parolees receive a meal, counseling and can even watch a movie, but agents say the priority is keeping them off the street.
"It just makes it a lot safer for everyone in the community," said Agent Gregory Sims.
Wilfred Lewis was among the parolees who reported to the transient center in Oakland. Lewis served 23 months in prison for assault with a deadly weapon, but it was a lewd and lascivious charge involving a 13 year-old girlfriend, when Lewis was 14, that designated him a sex offender.
Last Halloween, Lewis told KTVU he was arrested when he didn't show up on time.
"They are real strict about being here at five o'clock, so I made sure I came 30 minutes early today," said Lewis. Other sex offenders who have a home received visits from agents Thursday night. The goal is to make sure they're not a magnet for trick-or-treaters.
"Lights out, dark. When we go in the house, we don't want to see any indicia, no Halloween decorations, no candy," said Sims.
State officials say there are almost 84,000 sex offenders in California. The CDCR tracks about 9,300 of them using GPS ankle monitors.
>>State officials say there are almost 84,000 sex offenders in California. The CDCR tracks about 9,300 of them using GPS ankle monitors.<<
What a pleasant statistic...
You really do not want to know the Unofficial Count of them in the Washington DC area...
That's a pretty sizable number. Makes one wonder what all qualifies a person as a "sex offender".
That's a pretty sizable number. Makes one wonder what all qualifies a person as a "sex offender".
I have a friend I went to high school with in the 1980's who got busted for having sex with his sixteen year old girlfriend when he was nineteen (they had already been dating three years at that point). Long story short, he plead guilty, paid a small fine, we all got a good laugh out of it, end of story?...well no...ten years later, long after he was done "sowing his wild oats", had gone to college settled down and had a family, he was informed one day that he was a "sex offender" and had to register and abide by all the requirements for the rest of his life. So like most laws, this one was based on good intentions but is enforced with zero intelligence...
How many of the 84k were innocent people.with porn flvirtually planted on their computers?
Only sounds crazy NOW. How about in five years?
It will be like the USSR declaring dissidents insane.
“..what all qualifies a person as a “sex offender”.”
From the article, if you are 14 and with a 13 year old in some “lewd” behavior - you qualify.
Oddly enough, “boo” used to be a street name for marijuana. Of late it has been adopted by methamphetamine.
Even back in the 1960s, the popular combination of “boo and coke” sounded like a bar order.
And that’s just members of Congress.
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