Charleston, W.Va. - U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin, U.S. Marshal John Foster and West Virginia State Police First Lieutenant Michael Baylous announced today that as a result of a four-day law enforcement operation aimed at verifying compliance of more than 411 registered sex offenders currently residing in Kanawha County, 24 offenders were found to be out of compliance.
The initiative, dubbed Operation C4 (Capitol City Compliance Checks), is a multi-agency law enforcement effort targeting registered sex offenders to determine individual compliance with the Sex Offender Registration Notification Act, or SORNA. Led by the U.S. Marshal’s Sex Offender Investigations Branch, Operation C4 targeted 411 registered sex offenders and found 387 to be in compliance. A total of 24 offenders were found out of compliance during the checks conducted on September 22-25. Warrants were issued for 20 offenders, and of those 12 have already been arrested. Operation C4 revealed that seven sex offenders had absconded. Deputy U.S. Marshals, along with West Virginia State Troopers, will continue their investigation until those violators are found.
“The prosecution of sex offenders remains one of my office’s top priorities. These sweeps are an important step in bringing to justice those offenders who have not registered as required by law, and who continue to pose a threat to the communities in which they hide," said U. S. Attorney Goodwin.
Operation C4 was initiated by members of the West Virginia State Police, in cooperation with the U.S. Marshal’s Service Sex Offender Investigations Branch for the Southern District of West Virginia. U. S. Marshal John Foster stated, “The U.S. Marshal’s Service will continue conducting these sweeps and tracking down sex offenders who are not in compliance with the law."
Through this and previous regional sweeps throughout the Southern District of West Virginia, a combined total of more than 1,250 offender compliance checks have been conducted.
The Sex Offender Registration Notification Act (SORNA) is a part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. SORNA provides a comprehensive set of minimum standards for sex offender registration and notification in the United States.
These sweeps are conducted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/wvs/PSCpage.html.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
