Jacksonville, Florida – Senior United States District Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger has sentenced Ricardo Lamont Irvine (43, Evansville, IN) to 41 months in federal prison for failing to register as sex offender after traveling from Indiana to Florida. He pleaded guilty on December 10, 2015.      

According to court documents, on November 4, 1996, Irvine was convicted of child molestation in Evansville, Indiana.  Subsequent to his conviction, Irvine traveled from Indiana to Florida but failed to register as a sex offender as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

On September 22, 2015, officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) responded to a Walmart store in Jacksonville in reference to a disturbance.  Officers made contact with Irvine, who advised the officers that he had been in Jacksonville for about two weeks and was living in a wooded area.  Records checks revealed that Irvine was a registered sex offender from Indiana and that he had failed to register in Florida.

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.  The Adam Walsh Act also provides for the use of federal law This case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

It is another case 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.justice.gov/psc.