Before kids go trick or treating on Halloween across West Virginia, now is a good time to take an inventory of who is living in your neighborhood.
The U. Department of Justice runs the National Sex Offender Public Website , which you can use to locate registered sex offenders near your home. You may want to avoid trick or treating at these houses and apartments on Halloween, or merely be aware of who's living in your neighborhood during the rest of the year. Law enforcement officials and researchers caution that the registries can play only a limited role in preventing child sexual abuse and stress most perpetrators are known to the child.
Department of Justice estimates only about 10 percent of perpetrators of child sexual abuse are strangers to the child. The Justice Department estimates 60 percent of perpetrators are known to the child but are not family members — people such as family friends, babysitters, child care providers and others.
Some 30 percent of child victims are abused by family members. Nearly a quarter of the abusers are under age 18, the department estimates. Nearby Places. Back to the Across West Virginia Patch. Read more local news from Across West Virginia. Find out what's happening in Across West Virginia with free, real-time updates from Patch.
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