Boston Man Charged with Failing to Register as a Sex Offender

BOSTON – A Boston man was arrested and charged yesterday in federal court in Boston for failing to register as a sex offender.

Rodney Anderson, 45, was arrested and charged with one count of failing to register as a sex offender and was detained following an initial appearance yesterday before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Donald L. Cabell.  A probable cause and detention hearing is set for Monday, July 17, 2017.   

Anderson is required to register as a sex offender in Massachusetts based on a North Carolina state court conviction for second degree rape in 1986.  Shortly following his release from custody for that conviction in 2014, Anderson left North Carolina for Massachusetts. When he arrived, he failed to report to authorities, but was tracked to a residence in Boston.

Failing to register as a sex offender provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and up to a $250,000 fine.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb; U.S. Marshal John Gibbons of the District of Massachusetts; and Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans made the announcement.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Paruti, Weinreb’s Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and a member of the Major Crimes Unit, is prosecuting the case.

The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood.  In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.