Sheriff: How to avoid sex offenders while trick-or-treating

Families encouraged to check the website before stopping by unfamiliar homes

(GREENSBURG, Ind.) -- The Decatur County Sheriff's Office is reminding families that there are some unfriendly homes to visit this Halloween.

There are approximately 40-50 registered sex offenders in Decatur County.

“We do the best we can in making sure sex offenders live where they tell us, so

it is crucial that our citizens visit our website www.decaturcountysheriff.com, to see who

the registered sex offenders are and where they are living.” says Sheriff Bill Meyerrose.

Citizens are encouraged to check any addresses where they or their family spend time. There is a website that offers this resource for every county in Southeast Indiana.

The site also has tools such as the ability to sign up for free automatic email notifications informing you if an offender moves within a specified radius of any address you register.

“If you aren’t planning on trick-or-treating in your neighborhood, but will be in a family or friend’s neighborhood, register their address beforehand so you know which houses to avoid.

The alerts are in real-time and sent out via e-mail as soon as a new offender has registered with the Decatur County Sheriff’s department.

Sheriff Meyerrose says “The benefit of registering for this free confidential e-mail alert service is that it allows us to monitor your important addresses for you, thereby keeping you up to date of newly registered offenders and making it unnecessary for you to have to check your important addresses daily or even weekly”.

Click here to access the website which is www.icrimewatch.net/indiana.