News Release
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
District of Rhode Island
June 26, 2008
Carnival worker is charged with failure to register as a sex offender
A federal grand jury in Providence has charged Leonard F. Roupe with failure to register as a sex offender after moving to Rhode Island and working in Rhode Island. Roupe, who was convicted in Georgia ten years ago of child molestation, had, since late April, been living at a motel in Johnston and working for a carnival concessions and game company, according to a federal affidavit.
United States Attorney Robert Clark Corrente and United States Marshal Burton Stallwood announced the indictment, which the grand jury returned yesterday in U.S. District Court, Providence.
Deputy U.S. Marshals arrested Roupe on June 6 on a federal complaint. According to an affidavit supporting the complaint, Roupe, 51, was convicted in Georgia in 1998 of child molestation and was subsequently required under Georgia Law to register as a sex offender. Although he did initially register in Georgia, as of June 5, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Sex Offender Registry Web site listed him as having “absconded.”
Under the 2006 federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), Roupe is required to re-register as a sex offender in any state in which he resides or works. Deputy U.S. Marshals developed information that Roupe had traveled to Rhode Island this year with a carnival concessions and games company and was living in a motel on Hartford Avenue in Johnston. By June 5, he had not registered either with the Rhode Island Offender Registration Board or with Johnston Police, according to the affidavit.
The indictment charges Roupe with two counts of failure to register under SORNA after traveling interstate – one count with respect to his residence and one with respect to his employment. An indictment is merely an allegation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. In the event of conviction, the statutory maximum penalty for each count is ten years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
Roupe has been detained in federal custody since his arrest and will be brought into U.S. District Court for arraignment on the indictment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Milind M. Shah is prosecuting the case.