Zachary T. Lee Acting United States Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia
A Bristol, Virginia resident has pleaded guilty to charges related to failing to register as a sex offender after spending two years evading authorities in Mexico. Corey Richard Parton, 36, admitted in court to not updating his registration under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) and failing to provide required information about intended international travel.
Court documents state that Parton was convicted in December 2018 in Russell County, Virginia for proposing a sex act by a communications system and soliciting child pornography, both felony offenses. These convictions required him to register as a sex offender with the Commonwealth of Virginia beginning April 16, 2019, and to re-register every 90 days.
On August 8, 2023, the Virginia State Police began investigating discrepancies in Parton's SORNA registration. Investigators found he had not updated key information including his home address, vehicle registration, employment details, and use of social media—an activity from which he was prohibited. Authorities sent re-registration forms instructing him to update this information, but the forms were never returned.
Parton was subsequently charged with three SORNA violations in Bristol General District Court and arrested on August 16, 2023. He was released on bond but later traveled to Galveston, Texas where he boarded a cruise ship bound for Cancun, Mexico. After disembarking in Cancun and failing to return to the ship, law enforcement located him living at the Ocean Dream Hotel under an assumed name. He was arrested on May 25, 2025.
Robert N. Tracci, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia and Colonel Matthew D. Hanley of the Virginia State Police announced the plea agreement.
"The United States Marshals Service and the Virginia State Police are investigating the case," according to officials.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Stone is prosecuting.
