On Halloween, It's Lights Out for Sex Offenders

This year, New Jersey is forbidding sex offenders from participating in Halloween. The state parole board is instituting a 7 p.m. curfew for sex offenders and banning them from children's Halloween parties. The parolees are prohibited from opening the door for trick-or-treaters, and they're not allowed to take any children trick-or-treating, including their own kids. pumpkin-1.jpg

Although no sex offender in any state has ever been known to attack a trick-or-treater, the state parole board says it's just being proactive. The restrictions apply to all offenders on the board's list, not just pedophiles.

Rules governing the movement of sex offenders are nothing new, of course, whether it's with GPS tracking or Draconian residency restrictions. Forbidding them from taking their kids trick-or-treating, though, seems like a new level of punishment.

UPDATE:  New Jersey is far from the only place taking a special interest in convicted sex offenders on Halloween. A sampling:

States will watch sex offenders on Halloween (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Sex offenders warned about Halloween (St. Paul Pioneer Press)

Sex offenders told to stay away from Halloween (NBC News, Baltimore)

A new curfew keeps sex offenders indoors on Halloween night (NBC News, Rochester, NY)

Communities Plan Halloween Crackdowns on Sex Offenders (ABC News)