NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

JOHN F. WOOD

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

JULY 11, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARIONVILLE MAN CHARGED

UNDER NEW “ADAM WALSH” LAW

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Marionville, Mo., man has been charged today under the provisions of the newly enacted Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.

Perry Nugent, 36, was charged by a federal criminal complaint for failing to register as a sex offender after moving to Missouri. Nugent is the first person charged in the Western District of Missouri under the provisions of the new “Adam Walsh” law. A warrant was issued for Nugent’s arrest based on an affidavit filed with the U.S. District Court in Springfield, Missouri.

According to the affidavit supporting the charges, Nugent has lived in Missouri since at least March 2006 and failed to register as a known sexual offender after engaging in interstate travel. Nugent pleaded guilty to 3^rd degree sexual abuse and lascivious acts with a child in Des Moines, Iowa in 1998. The investigation showed that Nugent had registered in the states of Colorado and Louisiana as a sexual offender, prior to relocating to Missouri.

Wood cautioned that the charges contained in this complaint are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

Under federal statutes, Nugent could be subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Milligan. It was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Southern Missouri Fugitive Task Force.

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This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at