Convicted Sex Offender Living In Jefferson County Sentenced To 33 Months In Prison For Failing To Register With The Kentucky Sex Offender Registry

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A convicted sex offender living in Jefferson County, Kentucky, was sentenced in United States District Court today, by Senior Judge Thomas B. Russell, to 33 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for failing to register with the Kentucky Sex Offender Registry after moving to Kentucky, announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

Ronald Edward Dunn, age 42, was charged in a federal grand jury indictment on February 22, 2012, and pleaded guilty to the charge on December 14, 2012.

According to the plea agreement, Dunn was previously convicted in Indiana for child molesting in Case Number 39C01-9601-CR-6. The Indiana court sentenced him to 10 years in prison with four years suspended. Under the terms of the judgment, Dunn was required to register as a sex offender. On August 26, 2009, he was convicted of failure to register as a sex offender in Indiana. On January 26, 2010, he was convicted of failure to register as a sex offender in California. Dunn applied for and obtained a Kentucky Driver's License on January 3, 2012. He listed a residence in Louisville, Kentucky. However, he did not register with the Kentucky Sex Offender Registry at that time.

The United States Marshals Service Task Force began working two outstanding warrants on Dunn (one out of Indiana and one from California) in early 2012. Law enforcement officials arrested Dunn on February 10, 2012, at his place of employment at West Broadway in Louisville. Consequently, between January 3, 2012, and February 10, 2012, in the Western District of Kentucky, Jefferson County, Kentucky, Dunn, an individual required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, knowingly failed to register as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Assistant United States Attorney Jo E. Lawless prosecuted the case. The United States Marshals Service conducted the investigation as part of their mission under the Adam Walsh Act.

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."