PASADENA, Calif. (KABC) — Police officers and parole agents were out in force in the San Gabriel Valley on Halloween night, making sure convicted pedophiles weren’t trying to lure trick-or-treaters into their homes. It was all part of “Operation Boo.”
At a motel in El Monte, officers arrested a registered sex offender. Authorities say he violated his parole by keeping Halloween candies in his room. “This (candy) is what we were looking for, and he had it in a way where you could distribute it to trick-or-treaters,” state parole agent Bernard Villa said. Full Article
So eating candy gets you arrested… The big brave cops need to hand cuff you to just talk to you… Wow. Evidently all one needs to do is say sex offender first, because after that everyone stops thinking and therefore rights can be trampled and people can be abused. I remember when cops were brave and the legal system had a sense of justice… Childhood ignorance I guess. KFI did a similar story this morning and the main guy on that was a 21 year old who meet and slept with a 19 year old. She had been drinking…now he is a rapist. Operation Boo voliated him for having an adult site (he is 23) in the browser history of his girlfriends iPad….
Wow, that’s serious! They had to get 1! Candles in a hotel room! They might give him a year, which will cost tax payers 40k! This is almost humerous!
What an absolute joke. They didn’t catch anyone committing a sex crime but they did nab a guy with candy and another with Halloween paraphernalia. Sounds incredibly dangerous. Thank god for our brave police.
Thank goodness the police is starting to crack down on this kind of thing. Kids get so much candy and the risk of tooth decay, obesity, Type 2 Diabetes and other long term health effects have been ignored for too long. At long last government is starting to attack real problems and not imaginary problems. (Wait. Did I miss something in the story?)
I’m surprised they didn’t bust him for drug paraphernalia for owning a spoon.
…”and we don’t want absolutely no contact with the public tonight,”
Wait. So they do want contact? I love it when authority figures don’t have absolutely no grasp of English.
Operation rack up the recidivism rate with harmless parole violations. Evidence gathered: bowl of vampire shaped gummy bears and one plastic skeleton. This just in. Gummy bears dissapear on way from crime scene to station. Full story at 8.
And so follows San Diego:
http://www.cbs8.com/story/23850274/sex-offender-arrested-on-halloween-night
This story combines the sex fear with the poisoned candy fear (comments on News 10 site). Arrested for annoying kids by giving them candy? I’m annoyed when those boy scouts, pushed by their parents, block my path into the store and try to push candy on me.
Steve Gregory of KFI, who clearly needs to lay off the Halloween candy himself, posted a report to his blog today about his ride-along with <a href="http://www.kfiam640.com/pages/specialassignment.html"OC's Operation Boo.
I could only read so far before becoming incensed at the arrest of the guy violated for having visited a legal porn site from his iPad. It seems that depriving or impeding someone’s natural need for some relief could lead to a re-offense. Why cause these poor souls additional frustration?
On another note, and as someone else pointed out, the greater crime is handing out all that candy to our kids. <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/how-toxic-is-sugar-1.1894262" Sugar is poison!
We had a blast Trick or Treating last night with our little ones. Each year stresses me out a little – is some douche neighbor going to cause a problem? – but I can’t, in good conscience, let me kids eat all that stuff, yummy though it is.
Really – More kids will be physically hurt as a result of eating all that candy than by any RSO.
WTF??? I had stacks of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and a selection of white chocolate bars in the frig when I was on parole.. I’m addicted to Reeses.. My parole officer thought it wasn’t odd and so did her supervisor.. .. I remember every odd year they checked on me in Halloween or at least leave their business card with a note saying call me.. and few times they called me on Halloween to see if I was at my place, usually I was working at night or was at Halloween party…
This is utterly absurd. There are no documented cases of a child being harmed by a RSO on Halloween; and it’s not because of operation boo s_it. It’s because it just doesnt happen and hasnt happened for decades, if ever. Kids are more at risk of being hit by a car on Halloween that being assaulted by a RSO. The goon squad came to my house yesterday. I didnt answer the door, as usual because I refuse to participate in the B.S. These kinds of actions by the ; and I use the term loosely; authorities serve no useful purpose other than to generate fear where there is nothing to be fearful of, not to mention wasting $$$$ and time adressing real problems, such as traffic and drunk drivers; not harassing and persecuting people that have done nothing. What a bunch of B.S.
“We do this every year to make sure that the community is safe and the children are safe,” parole agent Steve Bartholomy said.
Another convicted pedophile was arrested in Pasadena.
“We took him in for Halloween paraphernalia,” Villa said.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation calls it “Operation Boo,” and it happened statewide all in an effort to keep trick-or-treaters safe.
Well…
Last night in West Hollywood I went out wearing a T-shirt that I had written “Registered Sex Offender” and then black and white strips on the back…of course in a crowd of 200,000 I really didn’t stand out BUT just wanted to counter-balance the stupidity of this holiday for those California citizens who can’t even leave their apartments or put a freaking pumpkin out!
There are lots of smart comments here already but I have to add that the guy who got busted for having Halloween candy in his room just got busted because the officials THOUGHT it would be given to some unknown, unseen, unREAL child. Maybe this guy just likes candy. Most candy comes in seasonally “appropriate” bags for any holiday….This is now our legal system.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/oct/31/simi-valley-police-to-patrol-residents-for-by/#comments
They waste so much time patrolling offenders, when the real danger is kids crossing the street.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/nov/01/12-year-old-girl-recovering-after-being-hit-by/
@td777 – Please tell us more about parole prohibiting you from having Christmas decoration, Christmas candy and Easter candy. I smell a lawsuit. Be sure to let us know the county in which you live. Any one else had this experience?
I’m sure that if we sport pilgrim costumes, have a cornucopia, maybe a Christmas wreath, tree or presents under the tree we’ll be targeted for “attempting” to entice children in the near future…don’t laugh, we all know it’s coming.
I object to the use of “convicted pedophiles” in this article. I believe that pedophilia is still a psychiatric diagnosis, not a legal charge or crime. Can you be convicted of bi-polar disorder or schizophrenia? This ignorant and irresponsible use of inflammatory terms continues to feed public hysteria.
While Operation “Lock up the Candy Eaters” was going on, the following REAL tragedies occurred during trick-or-treating, 2013:
5-year-old struck, killed by car while trick-or-treating
Boy, 8, struck by car while trick or treating
Mother: Girl killed on Halloween was ‘little angel’
Boy hit by car while trick-or-treating in Alexandria
Spartanburg HS Student Hit and Killed By Car While Trick Or Treating
12-year-old girl recovering after being hit by car while trick-or-treating in Newbury
Local Boy Struck By Car During Trick or Treating
This is just the first page of google results for “trick or treat child accidents”.
Now, here is a list of all attempts by registered sex offenders trying to pick up children:
http://soundjax.com/cricket_sounds-1.html
Driving should be outlawed on Halloween…any drivers caught driving should be locked up for indeterminate sentences after their faces have been plastered all over the news. If these rogue drivers ever get out of prison, then they should be banned from ever driving again, made to wear motion sensitive ankle bracelets, put in home lock-up every Halloween and if caught with keys (of any kind)or automotive paraphanalia like Hot Rod, Motor Trend, Car and Driver, any armor all, car wax or the like, sent right back to the mini bar hotel. Those items show a serious intent to drive and hit children. Put “No Driving” signs on their homes and make them register and become RND’s or registered non-drivers. By God, that should solve some Halloween problems.
FIrst, I truly have to say that I’m both shocked and disappointed with the way in which law enforcement conducts themselves. In the past, I volunteered for Prison Ministries and truly had an opportunity to see how those being released from prison are being treated. Its hard to imagine how anyone can move forward with all of the obstacles put in front of them. I mean, its almost impossible (lack of education, criminal background, many have no familes/ect). Now, while there are some individuals who I feel will re-offend, there are also a lot of individuals seeking to make a change in their lives as well. From my stand of point, I think we should be doing everything within our power to assist those who want to assist themselves. As I progress along this journey, I’m almost horrified with the legislation I see continuing to target sex offenders. Its highly highly disturbing. Furthermore, the parole officers or law enforcement violating this individual because he was living in a hotel and possessing a candle is truly disturbing. I truly have no doubt that any credible judge will see me view in the exact manner. Its personally a very sad day when I read things like this. Personally, I feel sorry for the parole agent who had to go to this extreme/they sound like a very aggressive or almost angry person who gets off by harassing some guy recently released from prison and living in a hotel!
I had a midterm exam on Halloween night. I don’t even celebrate Halloween, never have, probably never will. But I had to drive almost an hour away to my school. If I was forced to stay indoors and fail my midterm, next stop — lawsuit city!
Thank God this hysteria hasn’t yet reached the proportions in Northern California that it has in Southern California. But with the trouble brewing in El Dorado County, I fear the worst is yet to come. I was a little nervous last Thursday night because my class is late in the evening; and I was afraid that some of the hysteria sweeping the nation might influence the authorities in this area to scrutinize registrants more. Thank God I finished my midterm exam without incident.
For those of you in Southern California, hang in there! We’ll get these laws changed eventually. Somehow, some way…
The issues make me ill and it seems to blossom into anything and everything. Although not Halloween related, porn is porn…if it is legal. You would then, when hitting a violation say that porn leads to violence against women or children and If that is so then we need to look at violence in film, etc. I believe this has been proven not to be the case. Funny that they will spin whatever they want to suit the needs of what ever bogus point they are trying to fulfill.
Regarding this concern about Christmas decorations, wouldn’t that be unConstitutional unequal treatment as it treats a Christian holiday differently than a Jewish one (they’re not banning Hanukkah lights or whatever Muslims do for decorations on whatever holiday they might have, or the Hindus, or other? This only singles out Christians, Christmas. Seems like it is unConstitutionally unequal to me. I suspect it might even be a violation of freedom of religion — how can it be Constitutional to ban you from celebrating your religion?
And in that vein, isn’t Halloween actually stemming from a Celtic holiday of some kind of religious significance regarding warding off the devil and evil spirits?
So, they are attacking only a couple of certain religions by attacking Halloween and Christmas, but not the others?
How about the atheists. They don’t believe in anything, right? So shouldn’t they be banned from putting up no decorations?