North Carolina Sex Offender Sentenced for Failing to Register Under SORNA

ABINGDON, Va. – Joseph Rimero Rutherford, 34, of North Carolina, was sentenced last week to 18 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for failing to register as a sex offender in Virginia, as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), after he began living in Bristol, Virginia.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from in or about 2020 through in or about July 2022, Rutherford habitually resided in an apartment in Bristol, Virginia. Rutherford failed to register in Virginia or update his registration in North Carolina as required by SORNA. Rutherford is required to register as a sex offender and comply with SORNA because of his 2015 federal convictions for the possession and distribution of child pornography out of the District Court for the District of Columbia.

SORNA is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 and provides a comprehensive set of minimum standards for sex offender registration and notification in the United States. SORNA seeks to strengthen the nationwide network of sex offender registration and notification programs, in part by requiring registered sex offenders to register and keep their registration current in each jurisdiction in which they reside, work, or go to school.

The United States Marshals Service and the Bristol, Virginia Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Macon prosecuted the case.