Yes, I’m glad he was caught too. And you’re absolutely right about the parking lot/mall/etc. trick-or-treats — in an earlier version of this essay, I recounted my own experience as a mall employee many years ago, when the place I worked held a “Mall-o-ween.” And it struck me as being much more dangerous than just going to your neighbors’ houses! No one was screened in any way. I have no idea where the candy came from that I passed out to hundreds of little kids. It’s more like a kind of kabuki theatre of “safety” than an actual safe event.

Good question about the mom. I haven’t read anything about her, other than that she divorced him soon after he was arrested. She moved away from that town and tries to stay out of the media, but she has made statements condemning him, so she’s aware he’s guilty.