MI- Police work to track sexual offender registry absconders

5-5-2009 Michigan:

Some sexual predators have been known to move methodically through communities, patiently singling out their victims while blending in with society. From the child molester to the date rapist, offenders often target and attack those with whom they're familiar; occasionally they strike randomly. To monitor their movements among society, the state requires each convicted sex offender to report his residence on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry. But some offenders try to dodge the system by going underground. In an effort to root out these absconders, Michigan law enforcement officials are conducting coordinated, statewide sweeps that have netted some positive results — including here in the lakes area.

Lt. Robert Yorke, the Michigan State Police's metro-Detroit area coordinator for sex offender registry enforcement, extolled the last two Operation Verify sweeps as victories for the public and law enforcement.

"The last two campaigns netted positive results," he said. "Rounding up all absconders up is unrealistic. If they choose to go underground and don't want to be found, we just can't put up all the resources in everyday police work. Anytime we can identify an offender who is not registering and find out where they're living — even if it's just one, that's better than none."

The sex offender registry, a database containing the names, addresses, and offense information for all people in Michigan convicted of sexual offenses, was established in 1994 by the Michigan Sex Offenders Registration Act. The law established specific requirements for persons convicted of certain crimes against minors and those convicted of sexually violent crimes.

The Michigan Department of State Police manages the sex offender registry and its data.

The sex offender registry law requires offenders in Michigan to register their addresses with law enforcement officials after conviction but prior to sentencing. Offenders remain on the registry for 25 years or life, depending upon their offense. Offenders released from prison must remain listed on the registry for a minimum of 10 years or the duration of their initial registration period, whichever is longer.

According to Lt. Chuck Loader, statewide sex offender registry enforcement coordinator for the Michigan State Police, offenders who must register for life include those convicted of sexually abusive commercial activity after May 1, 2002. If an offender was convicted of that offense prior to that, their registration duration is 25 years. Child sexually abusive activity/distributing or promoting offenders must register for life if convicted after May 1, 2002. If the offender was convicted before that, their registration duration is 25 years.

Criminal sexual conduct (CSC) charges range in degree and are determined by a prosecuting attorney in each case. First-, second- and third-degree offenses are typically classified as felonies; while fourth-degree offenses are typically classified as two-year misdemeanors. Offenders can be sentenced to anywhere between serving probation to spending 15 years behind bars, depending on their record, age, and the nature of their crime. Regardless, each conviction leads to mandatory registration on the state's sex offender registry.

After registering, offenders convicted of felony violations must report to a law enforcement agency, such as a city/township police department, county sheriff or State Police post, to verify their address during the first 15 days of January, April, July and October of each year. Offenders convicted of a misdemeanor offense must report to a law enforcement agency to verify their address during the first 15 days of January each year.

Incarcerated offenders and those who accurately report that they no longer reside in Michigan aren't subject to verification requirements. Failing to verify an address carries a graduated penalty ranging from a 93-day misdemeanor to a four-year felony prison sentence. Failing to change a sex offender registry address is a felony offense.

Sex offender registry absconders are categorized as those who fail to register; fail to change their address when they move or vacate a residence; fail to verify their address either annually or quarterly; fail to pay the $35 one-time registration fee; fail to update campus information; fail to maintain a valid Michigan driver's license or personal identification card; and those who reside, work, or loiter within 1,000 feet of a school.

The State Police compile a list of targeted sex offender registry violators who have a current verification alert. The list is then sent to sex offender enforcement coordinators. The coordinators print activity reporting forms and distribute them to state troopers at the post or other law enforcement agencies. Targeted offenders are investigated, and the activity reporting forms are completed and submitted to sex offender registry enforcement staff for statistical compilation.

Yorke said that the emphasis of statewide sweeps is to target the sex offender registry absconders or those known offenders who have never registered or previously missed registering.

"We are now in a registration period for felons who missed the quarterly registration," he said. "We look and see who hasn't registered and determine if they have moved or registered elsewhere. Then we start with the last listed address, and speak with people there or neighbors. We run databases to see if they are able to be located. Then we seek warrants and enter the warrant into the statewide network. Sometimes we apprehend them in a traffic stop or any other contact with law enforcement. For worse offenders, we would enlist the help of fugitive apprehension teams or the U.S. Marshals Service, which can access federal databases or find offenders through welfare or Social Security checks, for example."

As of Feb. 3, 2009, 43,964 registered sex offenders were listed on the state's sex offender registry. Of those offenders, 14,788 were incarcerated and 25,467 were required to verify their address with police either annually or quarterly.

Following the January 2009 verification period, 39,427 offenders were found to be in compliance, and 4,537 offenders failed to comply.

The State Police conducted a statewide sweep in March that corralled 150 non-compliant sex offenders; an additional 405 arrest warrants were requested during that Operation Verify effort. That was the state's sixth coordinated sex offender sweep in the last four years.

According to Loader, the first step of the operation is to visit an offender's last known address and make contact. If the address is no longer valid, officials look at the local jurisdictions to see if the offender has checked in there to register. Those considered outside the reporting requirements are flagged as an absconder. The State Police assemble a packet that is disseminated to local and other police and distributed to the area's enforcement coordinator, who then pulls together different teams to track down absconders.

"If the offender is not located at their last reported address, law enforcement will search for offenders through investigation processes such as interviewing neighbors and landlords, speaking with relatives, checking to see if the offender has updated their driver's license or personal identification cards, utilizing intelligence reports and other software available to law enforcement, checking with the post office for forwarding addresses, etc.," Loader said. "In a full-scale operation we assign a half dozen troopers, in addition to city, township and village personnel aided by county deputies. If it's determined (that an offender) left the state, U.S. Marshals are called in. We typically assign two-man teams in an investigation."

Michigan leads the nation in aggressively pursuing non-compliant sex offenders, according to Loader.

"The efforts have been absolutely positive," he said. "Michigan by far leads the nation in aggressively dealing with sex offenders. Most offenders are compliant with the registry requirements, but if not we aggressively posture an initiative to invest in the process and return them to the judicial system."

If law enforcement officials are unable to track down sex offender registry absconders through regular channels, it's only a matter of time before an offender will surface.

"Sometimes when the offender applies for a job, a background check can turn up an offender that left the state and now resides elsewhere, where they didn't notify that state, or Social Security can lead us to them," Loader said. "They think that if they leave the state they'll be safe, but the sex offender registry is a national registry. U.S. attorneys and U.S. marshals become involved at that point. They then contact the district attorney and take punitive action."

In the lakes area, the Wixom, Walled Lake, and Waterford police departments, along with the Oakland County Sheriff's Department, participated in the most recent Operation Verify effort.

Loader said only three of the 117 targeted offenders in Oakland County were reconciled during the last two Operation Verify efforts.

"Out of those three absconders, one had an existing warrant, one offender was located out of state and one was located in jail," he said.

However, one of Michigan's most wanted sex offenders, Steven Paul Walton, whose last reported address was listed as being in Waterford, was apprehended in Arizona last August. According to Loader, that arrest gives credence to the importance of public intervention.

"We received an anonymous tip from a concerned citizen in Arizona which led to Walton's arrest," he said. "We encourage people to view the sex offender registry and call in if anything seems suspect."

Walton last reported his address to police on Aug. 15, 2005. He was convicted of second-degree CSC and had been named in an outstanding felony warrant for failure to register prior to being apprehended in Arizona.

The most recent Operation Verify effort involved over 70 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and was conducted between Feb. 2 and Feb. 13. Officers conducted compliance checks at 2,220 registered residences, resulting in 150 arrests. Similarly in November 2008, 196 non-compliant sex offenders were arrested along with 682 additional arrest warrants being issued.

Overall, since November 2005, 2,546 sex offenders have been arrested as sex offender registry absconders.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard was pivotal in writing the state's sex offender registry act when he was serving in the state Senate in 1994. He's initiated several community sex offender sweeps during his tenure as sheriff.

"The sweeps we conduct create higher recognition that we're going to do them to ensure compliance," he said. "If we didn't conduct these then more would be trying to get away with (failing to register on time). Roundups are always positive and that's why we've been doing them for over 10 years. Criminals are aware that we do this but for those that are non-compliant, they are then charged as a new criminal. It lets them know we are watching and ensuring compliance of the law while protecting women and children."

The Oakland County Sheriff's Department acts as the local police department for 14 contracting communities, including Commerce and Highland townships in the lakes area. The department will not only search for sex offenders in those communities but actually seek charges against absconders, whether they be misdemeanor or felony offenders, to ensure punishment, according to Bouchard.

The sheriff's department conducts sex offender registry sweeps on a quarterly basis. It follows the same protocol as other law enforcement agencies in first approaching an offender's last registered address. If the offender is known to be lodged outside of Oakland County, he or she would be considered a "nationwide pickup" and the sheriff would pursue the offender anywhere in the country.

"We have a warrants team and a Fugitive Apprehension Team (FAT) on standby to obtain the highest-priority offenders," Bouchard said. "It's something we routinely perform. Since we do so much verification, we have a much higher degree of compliance."

According to Bouchard, the money spent on checking up on sex offenders is money well spent.

"This is a high priority for our department," he said. "Sex offenders have high recidivism rates. We will utilize our resources to go after them."

Bob McGhee, the sex offender registry contact for both the Walled Lake and Wolverine Lake police departments, said the Oakland County enforcement coordinator sends local departments faxes listing those in their jurisdiction determined to be sex offender registry absconders. It's McGhee's role to verify the listed individuals' addresses.

"If the sex offender hasn't registered by the quarterly mandate, a hit comes up in the computer that the individual is not in compliance," he said. "Within a week, the coordinator faxes us to verify the address. During a sweep, the coordinator sends us facts on about five to six people who haven't registered. We went out and verified all but one (during the last sweep) and faxed back our findings. The remaining individual was a juvenile whose extended family didn't know where he or his family was living. For all we know he left the country because he was originally from Venezuela."

Sex offender registry sweeps are essential, according to McGhee.

"The Michigan State Police keep up with it," he said. "These sweeps are definitely worthwhile since they keep the offender on his toes. Most of them don't want to register. They play the game because they want to live where they want to live, which may be contrary to restrictions, such the requirement that certain offenders stay at least 1,000 feet away from a school. Some are pedophiles and it's important we keep track of them."

McGhee said the majority of sex offenders approach familiar victims.

"I would say 75 percent of the cases are immediate family member pedophiles," he said. "We don't get too many of those stereotypical rapists hiding in the bushes. Usually they are the type that groom the child and are patient. Many are step-parents. I had one who was in the Navy for 20 years and had four stepchildren. Finally one of the kids said she had had enough. I had a strong enough case for probable cause but when I went to the house he said he knew why I was there and admitted to everything."

According to White Lake Township Police Chief Ronald Stephens, White Lake police didn't participate in either of the last two Operation Verify efforts. However, he praised the Operation Verify program as an integral campaign to root out sex offenders across the state.

"It's a worthwhile objective," he said. "We couldn't participate because it means signing officers out from regular patrol. It's a matter of manpower. We couldn't take people off the streets but we conduct periodic spot checks on our own."

Stephens said participating in efforts like the Operation Verify program comes down to being a financial or manpower decision, and White Lake can't afford the expense or personnel.

"Any effort always becomes a manpower or financial decision," he said. "We would need to take officers away from their daily duties and assign them responsibilities or pay overtime for someone to join a task force, and we're not currently in the position to do so."

The Wixom Police Department participates in the statewide sweeps if absconders are present in the city, but between the last time the sex offender registry was published and the date of the last roundup, each local case in question had been put to rest.

Charlie Yon, an administrative sergeant with the Wixom Police Department, said the city was able to verify offenders' whereabouts prior to the roundups.

"We conducted our own investigation on Feb. 4," he said. "Of the two absconders listed in Wixom, one cleared up his address. The other, Takeshi Saito, listed a false address and never registered with the city and therefore was turned over to the Michigan State Police. Similarly in November 2008, one offender came into compliance; one passed away; and one was not found in our jurisdiction. We only participate if there are absconders in the city. That being said, these roundups are essential to the state. It keeps everyone in compliance with state requirements."

According to the State Police's Loader, plans for subsequent Operation Verify roundups are being considered.

"Throughout the state, federal, state, tribal and local law enforcement may initiate compliance roundups at any time," he said. "Currently, there are several jurisdictions in the state that have ongoing initiatives while others are developing operational plans that will take place throughout the year. The Michigan State Police sex offender registry section routinely provides information on offenders to not only in-state law enforcement, but out-of-state law enforcement whenever a request comes in. Cooperation, collaboration, and investigation remain an ongoing effort by all agencies involved to assure offender compliance and provide for an informed Michigan citizenry."

The public has access to a separate database containing the names, addresses, and listed offense information of persons residing in Michigan convicted of sexual offenses after Oct. 1, 1995, called the Public Sex Offender Registry. In 1999, the public registry became available online.

Under the sex offender registry act, certain offenders are exempt from being listed on the public sex offender registry — despite remaining on the main sex offender registry — including all juveniles and offenders who have successfully completed their probation. Any juvenile convicted of first- or second-degree CSC is listed on the public sex offender registry following his or her 18th birthday.

As of February 2009, 41,339 offenders appeared on the public sex offender registry. ..News Source.. by Leslie Shepard-Owsley