Convicted Sex Offender Sentenced To 30 Months In Federal Prison For Failure To Register With The Kentucky Sex Offender Registry

OWENSBORO, Ky. – A convicted sex offender living in Owensboro, Kentucky was sentenced to 30 months in prison, followed by a five-year term of supervised release, by Chief District Judge Joseph H. McKinley, Jr. this week, for failure to register with the Kentucky Sex Offender Registry announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky. Russell Jones, age 49, of Owensboro, Kentucky pleaded guilty to a one count indictment on November 27, 2012. According to court records, Jones was convicted on charges of attempted rape in the Court of Common Pleas in Franklin County, which is in Columbus, Ohio. That conviction rendered Jones a Sexually-Oriented Offender and required him to register as a sex offender for ten years. Jones initially registered in Columbus, Ohio with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department on March 19, 2004 and maintained his sex offender registration in Franklin County until August 2011, then registered with the Miami, Dade County Police Department after moving to Florida.

On May 26, 2012, the Owensboro Police Department arrested Jones for Public Intoxication. At the time of his arrest, employment records revealed that Jones had been living and working in Owensboro beginning in February 2012. Despite living and working in Kentucky for several months, Jones did not register with the Kentucky Sex Offender Registry - as required to do so under the terms of his Ohio conviction and the laws of Kentucky. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jo E. Lawless and was investigated by the United States Marshals Service.

This case was brought 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 www.usdoj.gov/psc For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."