Arrest made during Taylor County Sheriff's Office' sex offender registration roundup

The Taylor County Sheriff's Office started checks this week on registered sexs offenders living in the county, with two-person units visiting the listed residences of 48 registered offenders.

The visits resulted in several violations, with one arrested for failure to comply, according to the Sheriff's Office, with plans for recurring checks in the works.

Det. Jeff Bell with the criminal investigation division said the list of offenders contacted does not include those who live in Abilene.

"That list is almost 400," he said. "There's a lot larger number in the city versus the county."

Of the sex offenders who fall under the gaze of the Sheriff's Office, "the bulk of those individuals were compliant," Bell said.

"They were doing their due diligence to make sure that they stay in contact with us and change things as needed," he said. "There were a few that had some minor violations, just some things that maybe they weren't aware of."

Stringent requirements for offenders

Some individuals must verify yearly, some quarterly, Bell said.

"And we have some that are transient, they kind of verify once a month," he said. "They have a list of things that they know that they are supposed to do. They see that list every time they come in. They get kind of nonchalant about some of that, the ones that were in violation. But we've we've made some corrections."

Failing to maintain registration − or comply with registration − is a felony, Bell said, meaning the person arrested now has "an additional felony on his record."

The Sheriff' Office gets notification if an offender moves here, Bell said.

"There's very little chance that someone is out there that is not supervised in any way, form or fashion and has moved to Taylor County," he said. "Wherever they're from, they've been obviously seeing or talking to somebody once they get out of prison."

Offenders are immediately assigned to a jurisdiction when they get out of prison, Bell said, and arrangements are made for them to meet, either in the county or city.

"Once we start supervising them, we have regulated times and intervals where we have to contact them and they have to update their information," he said. "So, the likelihood of there being an unregistered sex offender who has just gotten out of prison or moved in from another jurisdiction or state is highly unlikely just because of the regulatory burden."

Long-term commitment

Certain offenders have an ending date for their requirements based on their offense, Bell said.

But the bulk require lifetime registration.

"We will see those guys until they die," he said. "In fact, one of the guys on our list just passed away, so we're working to get him off of our rolls."

In the past, one deputy was in charge of making certain requirements were met, but now the work is divided up among three, Bell said.

That makes checking compliance easier, he said, and helps if someone is on vacation, gone to training, etc.

"We all have our own little section and individuals that we're responsible for," Bell said.

The crackdown this week was, in part, because more manpower is now allocated to the task, he said.

"We felt like it was necessary for those guys to kind of feel our presence," he said. "The bulk of them are doing their job, but if we let them know we're kind of keeping our eye on them, then it may make them a little more hesitant to stray or make bad decisions."

The sheriff's office talks to offenders "all the time," Bell said.

"They come in whenever it's their time to do the registration," he said.

"Basically, they're required to update us on every little change in their life," from a new cellphone to a vehicle registration, he said.

"If they do that, great, "Bell said. "If they don't do that, it's our responsibility to make sure we go out there and we prod them into doing the things that they need to be doing."

Brian Bethel covers city and county government and general news for the Abilene Reporter-News. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Sheriff department conducts sex offender registration roundup