With sex offenders already required to stay shuttered up in their own homes from 5pm Monday to 5am Tuesday they are now no longer allowed to distribute candy to trick-or-treaters or to decorate their houses with seasonal attire and must have no exterior lights on. The Riverside County supervisors and several other cities approved these restrictions a few weeks ago. The offenders must not open their doors to anyone but law enforcement officers.
Luis Patino speaking on behalf of the corrections department claims that these restrictions intend to protect children during this holiday, believing it to be "more efficient and cost-effective" to have all homeless parolees under one roof where they can be contained and observed. These offenders were notified of these measures at their mandatory weekly meetings with parole officers.
Mr Patrino says "If you bring them all together for a few hours, it frees up some of our agents to do other things, like compliance checks" and also adds that during the past 18 years of Operation Boo, there have been no reports of sexual assaults on any trick-or-treaters, proving the operations success.
Similar proposals were turned down in the city of Perris as concerns over civil rights violations were highlighted and some groups are labelling the restrictions "a costly waste of time that violate the civil rights of people who, in many cases, have not committed a crime against children." Janice Bellucci a state organizer for California Reform Sex Offender Laws sees the curfew centers as "reminiscent of Nazi Germany."
News article written by Michelle
Image via Wikipedia.
