November 9, 2006

East Lansing - Michigan State Police (MSP) Director Col. Peter C. Munoz announced today that 552 sex offenders were arrested and 622 additional arrest warrants were requested following a 14-day, statewide initiative led by the MSP aimed at increasing compliance with the state's sex offender law.

Over 125 law enforcement agencies and prosecutors' offices participated in the state's third coordinated sex offender sweep, dubbed Operation Verify. The statewide sweep is part of a continuing effort to proactively pick up offenders. A total of 1,803 sex offenders have been arrested since the first statewide sweep in the fall of 2005.

"Law enforcement officers in Michigan work hard to protect our children from those who would abuse and exploit them," Governor Jennifer M. Granholm said. "Operation Verify, a coordinated, intense effort to enforce the state's sex offender laws, is a critical part of that work."

Officers targeted felony-listed offenders who failed to change or verify their address during the October verification period, which ran from Oct. 1 - 15. Officers also conducted 3,979 random residence checks of registered sex offenders to ensure compliance with the reporting requirements of the state's Sex Offenders Registration Act (PA 295 of 1994).

"Ensuring compliance with our state's sex offender laws is a top priority for the Michigan State Police," said Munoz. "We are committed to continuing this proactive effort to help keep our children and families safe."

Michigan's Sex Offenders Registration Act requires offenders convicted of felony listed offenses to verify their address at a local law enforcement agency quarterly during the first 15 days of January, April, July and October. Failure to do so results in a graduated penalty ranging from a 93-day misdemeanor to a four-year felony. Offenders convicted of misdemeanor listed offenses must verify their address with law enforcement annually during the first 15 days of January. Failure to do so is a 93-day misdemeanor.

Listed offenders must also report a change of address within 10 days of moving. Failure to do so is a four-year felony.

Of the 552 arrests, 241 were felonies for failure to register or failure to change an address; 268 were misdemeanors for failure to verify an address and 43 were for other misdemeanor sex offender registry violations including failure to pay the registration fee and failure to sign the registration form.

In addition, 174 outstanding warrants unrelated to the Sex Offender Registry were satisfied, and 152 offenders were charged with additional crimes.

As of November 3, there were 39,945 registered sex offenders living in Michigan. Of those, 23,976 are required to verify their address either yearly or quarterly depending on their offense.

To view the Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry online go to www.mipsor.state.mi.us. To help locate absconders, visit the Most Wanted Sex Offenders web page at www.michigan.gov/absconders.

Contact:
D/Sgt. Kyle McPhee, MSP Statewide Coordinator, (517) 322-1906

The media is encouraged to contact their area coordinator for more information.
D/Sgt. Cyndee Gochanour, Mid-Michigan Coordinator, (517) 984-9922
D/Lt. Wally Helmila, Upper Peninsula Coordinator, (906) 225-7030
D/Lt. Amos Horton, Northern-Lower Michigan Coordinator, (231) 938-0714
D/Sgt. Doug Kill, Southwest Michigan Coordinator, (269) 465-6525
Sgt. Linda Mys, Western Mid-Michigan Coordinator, (231) 652-1662
D/Sgt. Allan Ogg, Bay-Thumb Area Coordinator, (989) 758-1760
F/Lt. Robert Yorke, Metro-Detroit Area Coordinator, (586) 727-0203

Read more news releases from the Michigan State Police.