King and his colleague Shana Withers supervise sex offenders in Gaston County. They're parole officers. King decided that Halloween night would be an ideal time to take sex offenders off the kid-filled streets and bring them in for a special treat: a briefing at the county courthouse.

Requiring sex offenders to get together while children are roaming neighborhoods in search of candy makes perfect sense. It also makes supervision simpler.

"Last year we contacted every one [of the offenders] on Halloween and went to a number of carnivals and festivals to make sure there wasn't any direct contact with children," King said. "This year, instead of us finding them, Withers and I thought it would be a lot easier if we had them in one location."

Smart.

King ran the idea up his chain of command and got approval from state Department of Correction officials in Raleigh after he learned a South Carolina county had hosted a Halloween briefing a few years ago. Once he got the go-ahead, his next call was to Gaston County Sheriff's Deputy David Pearson, who secured the commissioners' conference room for the gathering. It's the only room in the county complex large enough to accommodate the 70 people ordered to attend. Those who skip the 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. briefing will be arrested, so King expects a good turnout.

Pearson also had little trouble rounding up deputies and others to provide extra security. Among them will be Gaston County Sheriff Alan Cloninger, who will use the time to inform the attendees of their new responsibilities under state laws that take effect Jan. 1.

Capt. Darrell Griffin told me his crew will verify the registered sex offenders' addresses and make sure everyone is complying with notification laws. A psychologist who specializes in helping those who have committed sex crimes will also be on hand.

In the true spirit of public service, all are donating their time.

As beneficial as this promises to be, I figured most attendees would regard it as one more pain in a series of pains known as parole or probation. "That's not the case," King told me. "This isn't punishment. For the most part, most of them are glad we're doing this."

Besides the practical benefits, the meeting also provides offenders with a rock-solid alibi in case a sex crime occurs that night. Halloween, Christmas, Easter -- and the child-oriented activities that mark their celebration -- unfortunately increase the potential for a child to be a sex crime victim, Withers said.

Other counties have contacted King to learn what it would take to hold a similar briefing. Restricting sex offenders' celebration of Halloween seems to a trend.

For the second year in a row, South Carolina will order its offenders to stay indoors from 5 p.m. until midnight. New York requires them to stay home and answer a call from their parole offices. Some municipalities have prohibited sex offenders from decorating their houses. Others forbid them from donning any mask or costume. One Texas town requires sex offender identification signs in front of their residences.

Effective perhaps, but those approaches seem more punitive than constructive. Gaston County has it right. Informing offenders of their responsibilities and making sure they're in compliance with the law will yield real benefits.

Next year, every North Carolina county should provide sex offenders and citizens with the same Halloween treat.

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