News Release
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
District of Rhode Island
October 11, 2007
Indictment charges man with failure to register as a sex offender after moving to Rhode Island from Massachusetts
A federal grand jury has charged Michael DiTomasso, 34, with failing to register as a sex offender after moving from Milford, Massachusetts, to Woonsocket, Rhode Island, in March.
United States Attorney Robert Clark Corrente, U.S. Marshal Burton Stallwood, and Woonsocket Police Chief Michael L.A. Houle jointly announced a one-count indictment, which the grand jury returned yesterday in U.S. District Court, Providence.
The indictment alleges that in March, DiTomasso, who is required to register under federal law, traveled interstate and failed to register. The charge was brought under a section of the Adam Walsh Child Protection Act, which was enacted in July 2006. That section, known as the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, requires sex offenders who move from one state to another to register their new address.
DiTomasso is the first person charged in Rhode Island under the year-old statute.
Acting on a federal complaint, U.S. Marshals arrested DiTomasso in Milford on October 4. According to an affidavit supporting the complaint, in 1997 DiTomasso registered as a sex offender, with an address in Milford, as then required by Massachusetts law. In March 2007,
eight months after passage of the Adam Walsh Child Protection Act, DiTomasso moved to an apartment in Woonsocket but failed to register with Woonsocket Police or notify Milford Police of his change of address.
On March 27, a Woonsocket Police officer located DiTomasso at his new address and advised him that he should register with Woonsocket Police within a week. On April 4, after DiTomasso had failed to register, Woonsocket Police arrested him. Milford Police charged him with failing to update his registration, and he was later released.
The U.S. Marshal’s Office in Providence initiated a federal investigation, resulting in the October 4 complaint and the indictment returned yesterday.
An indictment is merely an allegation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Upon conviction, the maximum penalty for failure to register as a sex offender after moving interstate is ten years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
DiTomasso has been detained in federal custody since his arrest last week. He is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow in U.S. District Court, Providence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Milind M. Shah is prosecuting the case.