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Are there sex offenders, predators in your neighborhood? Use this map before trick-or-treating this Halloween

How to avoid sex offenders on Halloween
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Halloween is on Monday, which means Tampa Bay area children will be going door to door asking for candy. But do you really know who the stranger is behind the door your child is knocking on?

Although many law enforcement agencies encourage registered sex offenders and predators to leave their lights off and not decorate for the popular holiday, there are no certainties that they will listen.

Sex offenders and predators are required to register their permanent addresses with law enforcement. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement maintains a database with this information. Many of them continue to live among us after serving time.

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According to the FDLE, the information posted about an offender in their database is not intended to indicate that any judgment has been made about the level of risk a particular offender may present to others, but rather to allow people to form their own risk assessments based on the offender's personal circumstances and conviction history.

More than 8,000 sex offenders and predators live in Tampa Bay neighborhoods, according to the database.

County2022 Current Registered Sexual Offenders/Predators
Citrus373
DeSoto94
Hardee54
Hernando466
Highlands151
Hillsborough2,084
Manatee484
Pasco972
Pinellas1,719
Polk1,237
Sarasota494

Search your neighborhood or the neighborhood your child will be trick-or-treating on Halloween below:

To look up sexual offenders and predators in other states, click here.