By DAVID SEIFMAN



October 23, 2003 -- The city is putting more than 600 pedophiles under a strict curfew for Halloween, a top Probation Department official disclosed yesterday.
Testifying before the City Council, First Deputy Commissioner Richard Levy said that his agency will launch a "Halloween Initiative" - similar to a program quietly begun last year that prohibits probationers who are pedophiles from participating in trick-or-treat festivities.

"To make sure that the offenders abided by the curfew, [probation] teams conducted unannounced home visits," Levy told a joint hearing of the Council's Public Safety and Fire & Criminal Justice Services Committees.

"We will implement a similar campaign this year."

Frank Ryan, a probation spokesman, said more than 600 of the 1,400 sex offenders being supervised by his agency are classified as pedophiles.

"Obviously, for Halloween, the pedophile could take advantage of small children visiting," said Ryan.

He called the measures precautionary and said there have been no incidents involving pedophiles associated with the popular holiday.

If it were up to the city, sex offenders wouldn't even be eligible for probation, Levy said.

"We believe that probation is generally not the appropriate sanction," he testified.

But with judges frequently ignoring that advice, Levy said every sex offender receives the "highest level of supervision we provide to any of our 40,000 probationers."

"Our goal is to be such a constant presence in the life of the offender that it will be much more difficult for them to re-offend."

Advocates said they have not heard of similar Halloween restrictions in other jurisdictions.

"I would think the Probation Department needs the resources to make sure they can appropriately monitor sex offenders under their care," said Harriet Lesell of the New York City Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

"If they're not going to have resources, I can understand that."

Both Lesell and her Albany-based counterpart, Anne Liske of the state Coalition Against Sexual Assault, pointed out that friends, neighbors and family members are much likelier than strangers to be culprits in the sexual abuse of kids.

"The majority of cases occur at home," noted Lesell.

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