BOSTON -- As children and their parents get ready for Halloween, there's a little more to think about than costumes and candy -- sexual predators are also a concern.

NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that there are more than 8,000 registered sex offenders in Massachusetts.

"(My son) is going (trick-or-treating) with parents -- with adults. We are going to a neighborhood that we know," one mother said.

"We always look at all their candy before we let them have it," another parent said.

Communities in other states are imposing restrictions, such as curfews, on sex offenders on Halloween.

"It involves a lot of additional home monitoring, as well as the judicial use of polygraphs to ascertain what their recent behaviors have been. It is important to recognize that only one-sixth of sex offenders are on probation or parole. Five-sixths of them are not monitored routinely, except to keep track of their addresses," Department of Public Safety Secretary Edward Flynn said.

He said that parents need to do their part. They can log onto MapSexOffenders.com, type in a city, and a list of registered sex offender names will appear.

"We are stepping up our supervision and recognition of the fact that so many children are out and about. At the same time, I want to assure people that if they are monitoring the behavior of their children, with so many people out and about, they are probably safer that night then any other," Flynn said.