Sheriff Pohlmann urges parents to check the sex offender registry before Halloween Trick-or-Treating

Did you know an estimated 80% of all addresses have at least one sex offender living within one mile, according to statistics from the Department of Justice and Watch Systems LLC?

Or that 45 percent of sexual assault victims are under twelve, and 75% of victims know their attacker? More than half of all sexual assaults occur within one mile of the victim’s home.

Did you know currently there are 71 registered sex offenders in St. Bernard Parish?

So before your children Trick-or-Treat this Halloween, Sheriff James Pohlmann advises parents to use real-time methods available online to find the location of sex offenders living in your area.

“We do our best to ensure sex offenders live where they tell us, but our residents should utilize online tools to see who the registered sex offenders are and where they are living,” Sheriff Pohlmann said.

He said it is critical that you “Know Before You Go” this Halloween.

Sheriff Pohlmann advises parents to go to the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office web site at www.sbso.org and click on the tab that says sex offenders. Simply enter your home address to view a printable map of your neighborhood and addresses of sex offenders in the surrounding area. Or if going somewhere else in the parish on Halloween night, enter that address to search.

If you will be going to another parish, you can go to the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association web site at www.lsa.org and click on the Public Resources, Sex Offender Tracking tab and check by an address in any parish.

While you are on the web site, Sheriff Pohlmann encourages you to take one extra step and register for the site’s free e-mail alerts.

“You can enter your home, school, grandparents’ addresses, etc., to receive real-time e-mail notifications any time a sex offender moves within one mile of any address you register,” the sheriff said.

The alerts are in real-time and sent out via email as soon as an offender has registered with the Sheriff’s Office.

There is no cost for this service to the public, and no limit to the number of addresses you can register. Your email address and physical addresses are all confidential.

With these resources available, Sheriff Pohlmann said, parents can feel confident they are armed with the necessary tools to keep their children safe this Halloween.

If you have any questions or need further help regarding the Sheriff’s Office sex offender registry, call (504) 278-7630 and ask for Lt. Jeff Roderfeld or email him at [email protected].