No Halloween for sex offenders in Habersham County
Sex offenders who answer door for trick-or-treaters will be arrested, sheriff says.
Habersham County Sheriff DeRay Fincher has a warning for his county’s sex offenders: Participate in any Halloween-related activities and you will be arrested.
According to the county’s web site, sex offenders are forbidden from giving out candy to trick-or-treaters, accompanying their own children to trick-or-treat, wearing Halloween costumes, or even decorating their homes. Additionally, the sheriff warns sex offenders they must be reachable by phone from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Halloween.
Does Habersham, a rural county of 42,000 in mountainous northeast Georgia, have an especially high rate of child sex abuse?
I don’t know.
The highest point in Habersham County is a 3,809 feet peak called Young Lick Knob. Maybe that explains the Sheriff’s concern.
If I lived in Habersham County, I’d be ticked off. I don’t decorate my house for Halloween because I want to minimize the number of kids who ring the bell. My dogs bark for a couple of minutes each time the bell rings. It drives me bonkers.
But if I lived in Habersham, however, I would now feel compelled to decorate my home elaborately, lest any of my neighbors suspect that I’m a sex offender.