HOUSTON -- Halloween is a favorite holiday for many children who enjoy dressing up to trick-or-treat. But some homes that look festive on the outside could have a hidden danger on the inside -- a convicted child molester, News2Houston reported Thursday.

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The sign says "Happy Haunting" outside the Channelview home of Clifford Milton Duskin, 38.

He's on probation for molesting an 11-year-old boy.

Next door, News2Houston found a single father who has a 13-year-old daughter.

News2Houston's Cynthia Hunt asked, "Did you knew you had a sex offender next door?"

"We thought but no one had ever brought it to our attention till y'all showed up," said Charles Kee, a father.

"What do you think of his Halloween decorations?" Hunt asked.

"Totally inappropriate. He shouldn't have anything to do with any children," Kee said.

A blow-up spider and pumpkins draw attention to the Braeswood-area home of Kevin Andrew Tully, 34.

He's on probation for molesting an 11-year-old girl.

A scarecrow and pumpkins greet you at the northwest Harris County home of Bruce Raymond Cox, 34.

He's on probation for sexually assaulting a 7-year-old girl, and he's not supposed to be decorating for Halloween.

News2Houston reported that Cox's probation officer told him a couple of years ago to remove all the Halloween decorations from his home.

"You don't want to knock on the door of someone who's a convicted child molester because you don't know what that person is thinking," said Andy Kahan, the crime victims' director for the city of Houston.

Kahan said Halloween is the perfect opportunity for pedophiles to gain children's trust.

"I've studied sex offenders for a long time. These people are devious, they're diabolical, and they plan on their victims and this is one way for them to scout out who could be their next victim," Kahan said.

News2Houston showed the decorated homes to the new director of the Harris County Probation Department, Paul Donnelly.

He said the decorations violate the offenders' probation because they lure children to their homes.

"Thank you for bringing it to our attention and we'll certainly take care of it," Donnelly said.

Within minutes, he assigned probation officer Chet Machen to confront the offenders.

"Whenever we see anything like that, we have to take it very seriously," Machen said.

Harris County has 4,600 registered sex offenders -- about 85 percent are child molesters.

News2Houston found the following ZIP codes with the highest number of rapists and pedophiles.

77026, Kashmere Gardens and Fifth Ward area: 113
77093, Eastex-Jensen area: 99
77015, Northside area of Channelview: 91

Machen has supervised sexual offenders for seven years.

For the past six, he supervised convicted child molester Anthony Allen Shore.

Earlier this week, after new DNA tests matched Shore, police said he confessed to sexually assaulting and murdering a 9-year-old girl, a 15-year-old girl, a 16-year-old girl, and a 21-year-old woman, which is a reminder of how dangerous sex offenders can be, officials said.

"In general, a lot of them are very personable," Machen said.

Hunt asked, "You said charming?"

"Charming. Many seem like your best neighbor. That's why these Halloween decorations can be so dangerous," Machen said.

News2Houston visited the home of child molester Andrew Tully, with Machen.

After Machen knocked on the door and identified himself, a person inside did not answer the door. So a report will go to Tully's probation officer and probably to the presiding judge for his case, officials said.

Machen is Dusken's probation officer. He is especially upset with Dusken because Machen sent a letter to him and other offenders warning them to not participate in Halloween.

"He knew he wasn't supposed to that. As part of the program, I sent them out the letter, and just in our general conversations they understand they aren't supposed to be doing anything that attracts children," Machen said.

Of the almost 5,000 registered sex offenders, only about one-third will be forced to remove their decorations. That is because the rest are no longer on probation and their behavior is no longer monitored.