Each October, the media runs story after story warning parents about the dangers that sex offenders pose to children on Halloween. All of the panic stoked by these claims has prompted lawmakers across the country to begin passing laws that restrict the activities of convicted sex offenders on Halloween or that require police officers to check up on sex offenders during trick-or-treat hours. For example, in Tennessee, registered sex offenders must comply with a 6pm – 6am curfew each day from October 21 until November 1, during which time they must stay home but act like they aren’t there. Among other things, they must keep their porch lights off, avoid using decorations, and only answer the door for law enforcement. During this time, police go around the state and perform thousands of random checks to ensure compliance. This massive effort is known officially as “Operation Blackout.”

But is it justified? Is there really such a heightened risk of sex crimes on Halloween that we need to go to such great lengths? Let's take a look at the data.

In a 2009 article published in Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, national crime rate statistics from 1997-2005 were analyzed to determine whether sex offenders tend to use Halloween as cover to harm children [1]. The researchers looked at reports of rape and sexual assault across each of these years in cases where the victims were 12 years of age or younger and where the perpetrators were not members of their victims' families. The data were purposively limited to these circumstances because the primary concern with Halloween-related sex offenses comes from strangers. Halloween was defined as a three-day period: Halloween itself, as well as the two preceding days. This was done to account for year-to-year variations in the day of the week Halloween falls and when trick-or-treating is scheduled.

For each of the 9 years of data, no statistically significant increase in sex offenses was observed on Halloween or on the days leading up to it. Furthermore, the nature of the sex crimes committed on Halloween did not differ from average.

This is not to say that Halloween poses no risk for sexual violence or that no one has ever tried to exploit it for this purpose; rather, what the data show is simply that there's no evidence that Halloween poses more risk than any other day of the year.

By applying so much attention to stopping potential sex crimes during trick-or-treating, we may be overlooking the risks that are elevated on this holiday, such as the fact that kids have a significantly higher chance of being hit by cars. Compared to all other days of the year, children are four times as likely to be struck and killed by a motor vehicle on Halloween [2]. That's a substantial and important risk, but one that few journalists and lawmakers recognize each October.

It’s also worth mentioning that all of these blanket legal restrictions being imposed on sex offenders don’t actually seem to enhance public safety as intended. In fact, laws restricting where sex offenders can live and/or where they can go seem to offer little more than the illusion of safety and, paradoxically, may be counterproductive. How so? To the extent that such laws force sex offenders into homelessness, it can become harder to monitor those who are at a high risk of re-offending and provide ongoing treatment.

A big part of the problem is that these laws are predicated on the false belief that all sex offenders pose an equally grave risk to children. The truth is that not all offenders have sexual interest in children and not all offenders are equally likely to re-offend. These laws could potentially be used to greater effect if they were instead based on an individualized assessment of risk instead of treating sex offenders as a perfectly homogeneous group.

Bottom line: research does not support the idea that there are more sex crimes on Halloween, media panic is overshadowing the known risks to children's safety like car accidents, and blanket restrictions on the activities of sex offenders aren’t making us safer. Of course, we absolutely should be cautious on Halloween and take steps to protect the health and safety of our kids; however, let's make sure to apply that enhanced vigilance in ways that are truly going to help.

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[1] Chaffin, M., Levenson, J., Letourneau, E., & Stern, P. (2009). How safe are trick-or-treaters? An analysis of child sex crime rates on Halloween. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 21, 363-374.

[2] Centers for Disease Control. (1997). Childhood pedestrian deaths during Halloween—United States, 1975-1996. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 46, 987-990.

Image Credit: 123RF/Chris Brignell

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