Former New Haven Resident Pleads Guilty To Violating Federal Sex Offender Registration And Notification Act

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that LESTER JOY, 34, pleaded guilty today in Hartford federal court to failing to register as a sex offender.

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”), which was passed by Congress in 2006 as part of the Adam Walsh Act, provides a comprehensive set of minimum standards for sex offender registration and notification in the United States and seeks to strengthen the nationwide network of sex offender registration and notification programs.  In part, SORNA requires registered sex offenders to register and keep their registration current in each jurisdiction in which they reside, work, or go to school.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on October 25, 2002, JOY was convicted in the State of New Jersey of sexual assault in the second degree, endangering the welfare of a child in the third degree and theft in the third degree.  For these offenses, he was sentenced to three years of imprisonment, lifetime community supervision and was subject to lifetime registration as a sex offender.  On January 4, 2006, JOY was convicted in Suffolk County, New York, of three counts of rape in the third degree, two counts of criminal sexual acts in the third degree and two counts of disseminating indecent material to a minor.  For these offenses, he was sentenced to a period of 42 to 84 months of incarceration and lifetime probation.

In 2013, prior to his release from prison, JOY was informed of his registration obligations under SORNA and he signed forms stating that he understood his sex offender registration requirements in both New York and New Jersey.

On November 30, 2013, JOY was released from the Morris County, New Jersey jail following service of a sentence for violation of his lifetime term of community supervision in New Jersey.  However, he did not register as a sex offender in either New Jersey or New York, and moved to Connecticut. He failed to notify New Jersey, New York and Connecticut officials of his move to Connecticut, as required.

JOY was arrested in New Haven on March 16, 2014.

JOY has been detained since his arrest.  He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford on May 18, 2015, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

This matter was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah R. Slater.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov