Halloween Spikes Oregon Sex Offender Website Traffic

Oregon's Sex Offender Registration Program Manager says they look at this as the public's tool.

(SALEM, Ore.) - Following several media stories last week related to Halloween safety and registered sex offenders, Oregon's Sex Offender Inquiry System website recorded its third highest number of "hits" on a single day in 2007, state police say.

Adopted by the 2005 Oregon Legislature, House Bill 3486 required information on predatory and sexually violent dangerous offenders to be posted on a state website.

Oregon's public website, sexoffenders.oregon.gov, went online June 29, 2006 and provides citizens with an Internet tool to access public sex offender information on those who pose a high risk to others.

During the days leading up to Halloween, several print, radio and TV media organizations did stories encouraging parents to check their state's sex offender registry when planning trick-or-treat routes. Oregon State Police Sex Offender Registration program reported that many people did use this resource as Oregon's Sex Offender Inquiry System website recorded activity more than tripled in the days leading up to Halloween:

When measuring Web traffic, a "hit" is counted each time a piece of artwork is loaded. So if a Website has many photos it will automatically have a higher hit count. If the site has only one image, a rarity, then the "hit" count is more in line with the actual "unique visitor" count.

Oregon State Police Sex Offender Registration Program Manager Vi Beaty was very encouraged by the jump in website activity on Halloween. "We look at this as the public's tool. Usually we see a spike in website activity surrounding a highly publicized case, but this was different in that people were probably using it to increase their awareness of any addresses they should avoid while trick-or-treating with their children," said Vi Beaty, Sex Offender Registration Program Manager.

The more-than 72,000 hits on October 31st is the third highest single day activity on the website this year. The highest recorded website activity occurred on August 21st when the website recorded 78,510 hits. The second highest day was on January 7th when there were 78,352 recorded hits.

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JB November 10, 2007 7:12 pm (Pacific time)

Tell that to the 1300 registered sex offenders in Oregon alone.

David Kennerly November 9, 2007 6:23 am (Pacific time)

When I was a kid, the big Halloween scare for our parents was the possibility of razor blades or needles placed in the apples or candy given out, presumably by diabolical adults, to the small and unsuspecting trick-or-treaters going door-to-door. That this scare was based not at all on fact and in the complete absence of documented cases, did not keep this urban rumor from becoming a major preoccupation of our parents and teachers. Indeed, this myth is still alive, although modern recommendations, such as having the collected candies X-rayed by benevolent police departments, are the contemporary countermeasures providing the societal upper hand in any negotiations with the evil spirit world. However, like ghost stories told around a campfire by cub scouts, our contemporary Halloween mythology requires ever more frightening embellishments to this specious, and seemingly eternal, narrative. Far scarier than mere needles placed in a miniature Snicker's bar (after all, what's the worst that could happen? A painful trip to the emergency room?) is the much more ominous possibility of your little trick-or-treater being snatched from a pedophile's porch and tied up in his basement to suffer unspeakable sexual tortures. Even worse, one suspects that such a monster would not let them live after sating his perverse appetites. That this much scarier myth is no more rooted in fact than the needles and razors of old is of no significance to the ever-vigilant fear mongers who obsessively quote one another in a mad dash to grab market share on the local t.v. news or in newspapers. The truth is, the little bunny or princess-costumed youngsters are far more likely to be killed in a traffic accident while being driven by their parents to a "safe" and organized Halloween venue with police volunteers posted at the doors of the staged events to deter any desperate molesters who might sneak in, than they would be if left alone, amongst their peers, going door-to-door and chanting "trick or treat"! At some point, we need to ask what effect all of this "long night of fright" has upon our children, ourselves, and our society. There is a cost- I am sure of it- but clearly, it has been completely overlooked as one of the actual dangers we, and our children, face.

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Halloween Spikes Oregon Sex Offender Website Traffic

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