Bacon plays Walter, a convicted child molester returning home to Philadelphia after a 12-year stint in prison. Walter finds that his friends and family have abandoned him, with the exception of his brother-in-law, Carlos (Benjamin Bratt). He gets a job at a lumber mill, where he meets Vicki (Kyra Sedgwick), one of the few women working at the mill, who quickly sleeps with him. She initially rejects him after learning of his past, but eventually becomes his girlfriend, convinced that he is a good man at heart.Walter receives frequent visits from a verbally abusive cop named Lucas (Mos Def), whose role is to make sure Walter is staying away from children.Now that he is out of prison, Walter must learn to deal with the community's contempt and avoid temptation, including an elementary school across the street from his apartment and a young bird-watcher, Robin (Hannah Pilkes). He also comes to suspect that a man he has seen watching children near his apartment building is also a child molester. Over the course of the film, Walter observes the man (Kevin Rice) offering young boys candy, chatting them up, and abducting them. Walter nicknames the man "Candy".Walter's life takes a further downturn when a suspicious coworker (Eve) learns of his crimes and alerts the entire mill. Seeking "relief", Walter goes to the park intending to molest Robin who confides in him that her father is abusing her. Finally realizing the damage he has caused, Walter changes his mind and tells her to go home. As she leaves she hugs him. On his way home, he sees Candy dropping off a young boy at his school at night. In a fit of rage and self-hatred, Walter beats Candy so badly he fractures his jaw.Soon after, Lucas visits Walter's apartment as he is packing to move in with Vicki and tells him that a man was beaten across the street the night before, asks if he heard anything. He tells Walter that the boy can make a positive ID of the assailant, and that the victim is wanted in Virginia for raping a young boy, clearing Walter's conscience. Walter later meets his sister, who he hasn't seen in years, and she becomes very angry and leaves him. As the movie closes, in a voiceover discussion with his therapist (Michael Shannon), Walter explains that he understands and accepts her anger, and expresses optimism for his own future.