County updates SVOR

LAKE COUNTY — The Lake County Sheriff’s Office has been updating its portion of the state Sexual and Violent Offender Registry.

“We’ve got compliance checks that we’re supposed to do as our part to keep the registry current,” Lake County Undersheriff Dan Yonkin said. “The state has an SVOR officer to assist the districts throughout the state, trying to help us keep our records current and make sure that registrants are in compliance.”

Last week, deputies checked on the residences of more than 30 offenders in the county who were deemed noncompliant for various reasons, something that deputies do on a fairly regular basis.

“We try to keep our records as accurate as possible,” Yonkin said. “When they don’t check in and let us know that, ‘hey, I’m leaving,’ we still have them on our books and we’re still telling the public that they live here. Our job is to notify the place they’re going that they’re coming.”

The work was done in conjunction with the U.S. Marshals Service and an investigator with the special investigations unit of the Montana Department of Criminal Investigations.

There are 78 registered sex offenders and 88 registered violent offenders living in Lake County.

Of those, 26 violent offenders and seven sex offenders were listed as noncompliant prior to the checks. Deputies were able to bring into compliance four of the violent offenders and all of the sex offenders.

“Typically, noncompliant means they just didn’t send back an address verification letter or they were confused about it,” Yonkin said.

Among the offenders located was Phillip James Pierre Jr., who is designated a sexually violent predator. He was arrested in the Polson area after officers checked two difference addresses.

“Given his noncompliance and his knowledge of the system, this isn’t new to him,” Yonkin said. “He just chose not to tell us where he was.”

He now is in the Lake County Jail awaiting arraignment on a charge of failing to register.

Offenders who fail to notify the Sheriff’s Office within three days of an address change are subject to the charge, which can include a penalty of up to five years in jail as well as further federal penalties under the Adam Walsh Act of 2006.

“What’s worse is they are now eligible to be charged as a persistent felony offender, which is a minimum of five years and can be up to 100 years in prison and a $50,000 fine,” Yonkin said.

For more information on the registry or to search the registered addresses of offenders, visit doj.mt.gov/svor