Post office axes North Pole letters to Santa

WEST PALM BEACH-- It's what 9 year old Mckenzie Wilcox asked in her letter to Santa last year.

"An I-Pod, a camera," she said.

Wilcox is like tens of thousands of kids across the country who also write to Santa and send a letter to the North Pole.

"Kids do it so Santa knows what they want, because if they don't get what they want, then they get upset," she added.

But now kids may even get more upset after learning The U.S. Postal Service has become a grinch of sorts.

They are no longer forwarding letters to the North Pole where light polls are shaped like candy canes, St. Nicholas Drive is a real street and where the letters are replied with a North Pole postmark.

The reason, a volunteer in the Operation Santa program was found to be a registered sex offender. He was caught before replying to a child's letter, but the panic forced the post office to pull the plug on the North Pole operation.

"Who wants their kids getting a letter from a sex offender? They have to be protected," said parents Andrea Johnson.

While any letters written to the North Pole this year won't be forwarded, the post office says their Operation Santa Program in other parts of the country will be responding to letters.

Still, for some parents the risk of having their child's name and address in the hands of the wrong person is too much to take.

"As a parent I will try to write the letter myself, or grandma and sisters will get involved. We'll make it special so they have something to believe in," said parent Tracey Benson.