Sex offenders are being told that they must stay inside with their outdoor lighting turned off during Halloween trick-or-treating in South Carolina.
The state's Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon services said all sex offenders must stay inside their homes from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. across the state on Halloween, The Associated Press reported.
Some counties require sex offenders to be supervised at a central location.
Agents will also be checking in on sex offenders across the state. Last year, they went to 350 homes and made an additional 150 phone calls, the AP reported.
Registered sex offenders in Butts County, Georgia, had sued to stop the Sheriff's Office from putting signs in their yards to discourage trick-or-treaters ahead of Halloween.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Macon, asked the court to order the agency to stop the practice, which began last year with deputies planting signs that read: "NO TRICK-OR-TREAT AT THIS ADDRESS!! A COMMUNITY SAFETY MESSAGE FROM BUTTS COUNTY SHERIFF GARY LONG." Deputies put up some of the signs while others among the county's 200 registered sex offenders were told to display one themselves or face unspecified trouble, according to the complaint.
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