Georgia sheriff's office puts up 'No trick-or-treat' signs at sex offenders' homes

JACKSON, Ga. --(WGHP) -- Door to door, the Butts County Sheriff's Office in Georgia will put up signs to make sure no children trick-or-treat at the homes of registered sex offenders.

The sheriff's office posted a notice to Facebook on Saturday.

“Georgia law forbids registered sex offenders from participating in Halloween, to include decorations on their property,” Sheriff Gary Long said in the notice. “With the Halloween on the square not taking place this year, I fully expect the neighborhoods to be very active with children trick-or-treating.”

The signs read, “WARNING! NO TRICK-OR-TREAT AT THIS ADDRESS!!” and feature a trick-or-treating bag covered over by the universal “no symbol.”

The effort aims to make sure that families can identify the homes where a sex offender might answer the door.

“There are some sex offenders that are not happy,” Long told WCNC. “But I'm not in the business of making them happy. I'm in the business of keeping safe communities and making sure that our children are protected.”