Joplin sex offender waives hearing on registration violation

Jeff Lehr, The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·1 min read

May 24—A homeless sex offender living in Joplin waived a preliminary hearing this week and was ordered bound over for trial on a charge of failing to register with the local sheriff's office as required by law.

Christopher A. Fargo, 36, waived the hearing Thursday in Jasper County Circuit Court and had June 17 set as the date for his initial appearance in a trial division of the court.

Fargo, who has two convictions for rape in 2009 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was taken into custody Oct. 2 by a Joplin police officer for being noncompliant with the state's sex offender registration law. A probable-cause affidavit states that he told the officer at the time that he had just been released from prison on Sept. 22.

Jeff Lehr is a reporter for The Joplin Globe.