This past Thursday, the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office coordinated a County-wide compliance check of all sexually violent predators and offenders against children. The operation, named Operation Candy Corn Compliance, was a multi-law enforcement agency operation with deputies from the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office, investigators from La Porte, Kingsford Heights and Michigan City Police, Michigan City Fugitive Apprehension Street Team (FAST), La Porte County Drug Task Force, Indiana Department of Corrections Parole Agents and United States Marshals Service all participating in the sex offender compliance check. All one hundred twenty-three (123) of the classified and registered sexually violent predators and offenders against children were specifically targeted because of the upcoming trick-or-treat that will be taking place during the Halloween season.
As a result of the operation, three of the offenders were found to be non-compliant and investigations have been launched and arrest warrants will be sought for them for various offenses related to the Sex and Violent Offender Registry. All three of the non-compliant offenders have been previously classified as sex offenders or offenders against children. In addition, one offender who had a previous criminal warrant issued for his arrest was located during the operation and arrested and jailed for failing to register as a sex offender.
The La Porte County Sheriff’s Office, as well as all 92 of Indiana’s Sheriffs utilize OffenderWatch Sex Offender Management System to manage and monitor the whereabouts of these convicted offenders. The site can be accessed through the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office website, which is located at www.laportecountysheriff.com. Once at the website, information about specific offenders can be obtained by entering the offender’s name or searching for potential offenders within a specified radius of any address of interest. Address radiuses of 1/4 , 1/2 , 1, 2 or 5 miles can be checked for potential offenders.
The La Porte County Sheriff’s Office reports that since 2014 nearly 222,000 persons have visited the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office OffenderWatch public website. The Sheriff’s Office encourages the public to utilize this tool to help insure the safety of children this Halloween season.
Police said during the compliance check, each offender was strongly encouraged not to participate in trick-or-treat. They also said the hope is that each of the non-compliant offenders will be located and arrested prior to Halloween.