STANLEY, N.C. — It looks like a haunted house on Mauney Drive.
It is frightening for neighbors with children, not because of the tombstones, witches and skeletons on the lawn.
They are worried about the man inside.
Robert Barnes is a registered sex offender convicted in 2000 of taking indecent liberties with a minor. His neighbors worry decorations will attract children.
"Why else would you decorate?" said neighbor Eileen Horesco.
One woman said her children ask to visit every time she drives by this house. She told them to stay away from the house and from Barnes.
She and others worry that not all of the children know about his past.
"During the Halloween season I guarantee you this place it going to be packed with children," Horesco said.
No one answered the door when we knocked Monday.
One man with a teenage daughter spoke with Channel 9 but didn't want to show his face.
"It just seems like it's kind of shady to me," he said.
He said Barnes decorates every year, but this year it's up even earlier and drawing more attention from children.
"He should have to take it down," Horesco said.
Neighbors said it's not just the yard they are worried about. They tell us they have seen Barnes walking along the street in costume as recently as a couple of days ago.
Sheriff's officers who track registered sex offenders said the law doesn't prohibit sex offenders from decorating their homes.
Barnes can also walk along the street as long as he's not near day cares, schools, or playgrounds.
Officers said they are watching to make sure Barnes doesn't turn his light on during trick-or-treating time and they will make sure he isn't interacting with children.
They said they haven't had any trouble with Barnes.
WSOC
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
