Kaylan Jay Bell, 26, of American Fork, Utah, was sentenced to 42 months in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for failing to register as a sex offender, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced. Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Wimill sentenced Bell today in federal court in Pocatello.

Bell pleaded guilty to the charge in October 2010. Bell moved from an R.V. park in Layton, Utah, to a motel in Challis, Idaho, and did not register as a sex offender. Bell had previously been convicted of attempted sodomy on a child on June 14, 2005, in Utah. Because of this conviction, Bell was required under state and federal law to register as a sex offender. In sentencing Bell, Judge Winmill stated that “the defendant presents a serious danger to children.”

Brian T. Underwood, United States Marshal for the District of Idaho, stated "every noncompliant sexual offender placed in prison is one more child who will not be a victim, and for that the U.S. Marshals are grateful to the Court for this sentence."

The case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service and Custer County Sheriff’s Office.

Bell was prosecuted for violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), which was passed by Congress in 2006. The Act requires sex offenders to register and keep their registration current in each jurisdiction where they reside. Violations of SORNA can be prosecuted in federal court.