NEW YORK — A sex offender is responsible for taking away some of the joy of the Postal Service’s Operation Santa program: Volunteers who answer children’s letters to Santa can no longer deliver gifts in person — or even know where they’re going.
The program resumed Saturday morning in New York and Chicago, three days after it was abruptly suspended after a postal worker in Maryland recognized one volunteer as a registered sex offender. A postal inspector intervened before the individual could answer a child’s letter, but officials decided changes had to be made.
It was a shocking moment for the effort, which started in New York’s main post office in the 1920s. Back then, postal clerks answered Santa’s mail, buying food and toys for children. Over the years, the number of letters increased, and the program was opened to the public in post offices across the country.
