Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

Between Oct. 15-19, 2018, Humboldt County Sheriff’s detectives and representatives from the Fortuna Police Department, Arcata Police Department, US Marshals Service and FBI, conducted an annual sex offender registration compliance sweep throughout the County of Humboldt.

During this sweep, law enforcement attempts to contact every registered sex offender in Humboldt County to ensure each offender is in compliance with state requirements. Pursuant to California Penal Code 290, sex offender registrants are required to register in person with the law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction where they reside. The registrants must also comply with several registration requirements, such as updating their registration annually and informing law enforcement when any changes have been made to their address or registration information. Failure by a sex registrant to keep law enforcement notified of an address change or registration information is a crime and can be punished as a felony or misdemeanor.

As of Oct. 25, there are 452 registered sex offenders in Humboldt County. Forty-five of those offenders are registered as transient.

During the compliance sweep, 32 registrants were found to be out of compliance, three offenders were currently incarcerated and two were deceased. Additionally, four arrests were made. Detectives are completing follow up investigations into those found to be out of compliance and anticipate additional arrest warrants to be submitted to the District Attorney’s Office.

The annual sweep is a collaborative effort to reduce violent sexual offenses in the county through proactive surveillance and arrest of habitual sexual offenders, and strict enforcement of state registration requirements. Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office involvement in this enforcement effort is funded through the Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) grant.

For more information regarding the annual sex offender registration compliance sweep, please contact Investigator Jennifer Turner at (707) 445-7251.

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