DE- Sex abuser convicted of failing to register

4-16-2009 Delaware:

Judge reserves judgment on defense motion to acquit

WILMINGTON -- A federal jury Wednesday convicted 66-year-old Thomas Pendleton of failing to register as a sex offender.

The jury came back after about 30 minutes of deliberation Wednesday, following about a day of testimony Tuesday.

However, Chief District Judge Gregory M. Sleet reserved judgment on a defense motion that still could result in an acquittal for Pendleton.

At the close of the government's case, Assistant Federal Public Defender Eleni Kousoulis charged that prosecutors failed to prove their case as a matter of law.

Sleet told attorneys to submit briefs on the issue later this week and he will issue a ruling at a later date.

If Sleet does not throw out the conviction, Pendleton faces up to 10 years in prison at sentencing.

(eAdvocate Post)

According to court papers, Pendleton, a former bike tour operator, has multiple convictions for sex offenses involving children, including two in the United States, one in Latvia and one in Germany.

In court, Kousoulis made a simple argument -- Pendleton never had a permanent residence from January to March 2008, moving constantly on a cross-country trip to visit relatives, after his deportation from Germany and before he left on a flight to return to Europe.

And since he had no residence, under the law, he had no duty to register as a sex offender, she said.

Prosecutors Ilana Eisenstein and Edmond Falgowski, however, argued that Pendleton, a convicted sex offender, had a duty to register and knew he had to register.

Falgowski said because Pendleton declared Delaware as his permanent home -- though he only had a mail-drop in Wilmington -- he had a duty to register with Delaware authorities, which he did not do.

Falgowski cited Pendleton obtaining a Delaware driver's license and registering to vote in the state as Pendleton's declaration of residency. ..News Source.. by SEAN O'SULLIVAN • The News Journal