TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Halloween is today, which means thousands of 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 to leave their lights off and not decorate for the popular holiday, there are no certainties that they will listen.
Florida has more than 30,000 in-state sex offenders and sex predators who were convicted of sex crimes in its statewide database.
Sex offenders are required to register their permanent address 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.
RECOMMENDED: Nextdoor and Current app offer trick-or-treating map for your neighborhood
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 7,500 sex offenders live in Tampa Bay neighborhoods, according to the database.
| County | 2019 Current Registered Offenders | |
| DeSoto | 97 | |
| Citrus | 319 | |
| Hernando | 433 | |
| Highlands | 163 | |
| Hillsborough | 1,952 | |
| Pasco | 915 | |
| Pinellas | 1,776 | |
| Polk | 1,228 | |
| Manatee | 487 | |
| Sarasota | 443 |
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.