Two Sex Offenders Indicted For Failing To Register

POCATELLO - Ronald Lee Chaney, 32, and Tyler Zane Clem, 21, both recently of North Little Rock, Arkansas, were indicted on August 27, 2013, by a federal grand jury in Pocatello for failing to register as a sex offender, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Clem appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald E. Bush and entered a plea of not guilty. Chaney’s initial appearance has not been set.

The indictments allege that between June 29 and August 9, 2013, both men were required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), but failed to do so. Clem, convicted of Felony Sexual Assault in the Second Degree on June 13, 2012, in Arkansas, was initially charged with failing to register by complaint. The supporting affidavit by a Deputy United States Marshal stated that Clem had left a half-way house in North Little Rock, Arkansas, with Chaney, near the end of June, and that Chaney was arrested on August 7 at a residence in Pocatello. Clem was arrested on August 9. According to the affidavit, a witness stated that Clem and Chaney rode the Salt Lake Express to Pocatello, arriving together on July 3, 2013. Public records indicate that Chaney was convicted in Idaho in 2002 of Sexual Abuse of a Child under Sixteen Years.

Chaney’s indictment also alleges that he committed assault on an officer on the date of his arrest, August 7, 2013.

The charge of failure to register as a sex offender is punishable by up to ten years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to life supervised release. The charge of assault on an officer is punishable by up to eight years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.

An indictment is a means of charging a person with criminal activity. It is not evidence. The person is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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

“The U.S Marshals Service take these cases very serious. Indicting these individuals proves that it doesn’t matter where they run and hide, we will find them, and they will be prosecuted,” stated Brian T. Underwood, U.S. Marshal for the District of Idaho.

The case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service and the Idaho Sex offender Watch Task Force.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”