Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On April 13 and 14, 2023, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office investigators and representatives from the Arcata and Fortuna Police Departments conducted a sex offender registration compliance sweep throughout the County of Humboldt.

During this sweep, law enforcement attempted to contact registered sex offenders to ensure each offender was in compliance with state requirements and living at the locations which they provided during registration. 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.

During this two-day compliance sweep, 154 registrants were found to be in compliance and 16 registrants were found to be out of compliance. Detectives are completing follow-up investigations into the individuals found to be out of compliance and anticipate cases to be submitted to the District Attorney’s Office for review and prosecution.

There are a total of 433 sex registrants in Humboldt County. This month’s operation is part of an ongoing effort to do smaller, more frequent 290 sweeps to reduce violent sexual offenses in the county through proactive surveillance and arrest of habitual sexual offenders, and strict enforcement of state registration requirements. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office is a participant in the Region II Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Team, and these enforcement efforts are funded through the SAFE grant.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank participating agencies for their assistance in this operation.

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