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St. Clairsville and Steubenville, Ohio
– The United States Marshals Service in the Southern District of Ohio,
the State of Ohio Adult Parole Authority, and the men and women of the
Belmont County and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Offices conducted a joint
law enforcement effort to keep tabs on local sex offenders in their
counties. On September 14-18, 2009, Deputy Sheriffs, Deputy U.S.
Marshals, and Adult Parole Officers teamed up to verify the residences
of registered sex offenders. The teams visited and attempted to verify
residency of over 200 registered sex offenders to ensure the offenders
are in compliance with their sex offender registration requirements.
This initiative is a collaborative law enforcement effort that is
designed to keep the public safe by ensuring that these offenders are
complying with sex offender registration obligations and residing where
they have reported.
In Belmont County, six out of one hundred and twenty five registered sex
offenders were found to be out of compliance and are facing possible
local charges. In addition, six subjects were located and arrested based
upon warrants issued for their arrest for violations other than sex
offenses.
In Jefferson County, eight out of ninety three registered sex offenders
were found to be out of compliance and are facing local charges. In
addition, seven subjects were located and arrested based upon warrants
issued for their arrest.
Sheriff Fred Thompson said that, ” We appreciate the extra manpower,
equipment and resources that the United States Marshal has provided us
in tracking and ensuring compliance of our registered sex offenders.
Combining the compliance check with the arrest of several other
individuals on warrants has made this a win win situation. This
operation has shown that agencies from any facet of law enforcement can
work together to ensure the safety of our children.”
Sheriff Fred Abdalla stated, “This was an extraordinary effort in
seeking out nearly 200 sex offenders. Manpower was essential in this
operation and it was only successful due to the U.S. Marshals Service
out of Columbus, Ohio. The Marshals Service supplied us with men and
women as well as dollars to pay deputies for their overtime. Sex
offenses against children is a growing crime throughout America. In
Jefferson County alone there are seventy one sex offenders walking our
streets. I'm so thankful to the U.S. Marshals for making Eastern Ohio a
part of this most important operation, especially here in Jefferson
County. I look forward to continue working with them in this great
endeavor.”
Assistant Chief Patrick J. Sedoti and Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Cathy
Jones traveled from the U.S. Marshals Service district Headquarters in
Columbus, OH to meet with Sheriff Thompson and Sheriff Abdallah to
reinforce their commitment to serving the 48 counties that comprise the
Southern District of Ohio. Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Cathy Jones states,
“Having the opportunity to establish a positive collaboration with
local law enforcement in Belmont and Jefferson counties is truly
beneficial not only professionally, but also for the communities we
serve. Ultimately, we all must work together to protect those we serve,
especially under such difficult times. Frankly, several law enforcement
agencies do not have the resources to conduct an operation like this
alone. Through force multiplying this week, we have accomplished several
tasks. We have arrested those offenders that are not in compliance and
made our communities safer, we have verified that several offenders are
doing exactly what they are required to do by law, and we have improved
our professional network of federal, state, and local law enforcement
officers in the Ohio Valley and across throughout the Southern District
of Ohio.”
Assistant Chief Patrick Sedoti notes, “We, alone, can not protect our
children and the communities we serve. We need the cooperation of our
citizens to truly make a difference. We urge individuals to contact
their local Sheriff’s offices if they know a sexual offender is not in
compliance. Children are particularly vulnerable to sex offenders. Open
communication between parents and children is vital to family safety. ”
To search for sex offenders in Belmont
County, review safety tips, and learn more about your local Sheriff’s
office efforts, please visit
www.belmontsheriff.com, and click on the tab indicated as “Sexual
Offenders”. In order to maintain awareness of sex offenders living in
your neighborhood, the Sheriff Thompson has added a Sex Offender
Registry to the website. The registry will allow you to enter any local
address. It will then provide a list of all registered Belmont County
sex offenders living within a one-mile radius within the boundaries of
Belmont County. If you are looking for information about a particular
sex offender, registered in Belmont County, the registry can help there
as well.
To search for sex offenders in Jefferson
County and learn more about your local Sheriff’s office efforts, please
visit
www.jeffersoncountysheriff.co and click on the tab indicated
as “Sex Offenders”.
If you reside outside of these two counties, you can also conduct your
own sex offender search. One of the most important programs in the State
of Attorney General's office is eSORN, Ohio's Electronic Sex Offender
Registration and Notification, one of the nation's preeminent
applications for locating and tracking registered sex offenders. You are
encouraged to take advantage of the many tools on this website to
protect yourself and those you care about. Here, you will find
information about how to sign up to receive
automated
messages when a sex offender moves near a location you care about
(your daycare provider, home, work, etc.) and how to submit tips to
investigators on offenders within the system. The site also features
information on the
"Most
Wanted" fugitives and persons who have failed to register. You can
search the database records by
county and
name. This database is linked to all 88 Ohio County Sheriff's
offices and all 32 correctional facility records offices of the Ohio
Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. eSORN provides one
location for all Ohio law enforcement officials to freely share
information on registered sex offenders. Also available on this website
is a concise breakdown of the various changes to Ohio's SORN law. Each
sex offender who is legally required to register must provide the county
sheriff with his or her name and address, his or her classification, the
offense(s) for which he or she was convicted and have a picture taken
and be fingerprinted. The sheriff's office must then provide the Ohio
Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation with that
information to store and to post on eSORN. For more details, please
visit:
www.esorn.ag.state.oh.us
The U.S. Marshals Service is the lead law
enforcement agency responsible for investigating sex offender
registration violations and related offenses in connection with
violations of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which was
enacted July 27, 2006. As part of this Act, the U.S. Marshals Service
has been directed to assist state, local, tribal and territorial
authorities in the location and apprehension of non-compliant and
fugitive sex offenders. Offenders that are found residing out of state
can be charged federally and often those charges carry more severe
penalties. To ensure the safety of children across the country, the U.S.
Marshals Service implemented an aggressive enforcement strategy. Since
the law was enacted the Untied States Marshals Service has arrested
9,160 fugitives for Sex Offenses, Failure to Register and Failure to
Comply with Sex Offenders Registration Requirements. To learn more,
please visit: www.usmarshals.gov.
Additional information about the U.S. Marshals can be found at
http://www.usmarshals.gov.
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