New online statewide registry requires information submissions by sex offenders

MUNCIE -- Many convicted sex offenders remain missing from Indiana's online registry months after its launch as sheriff's departments struggle to find those who have not met the requirement to submit information for the list.\nWhen the Indiana Sheriff's Association launched its statewide Web site last summer, every person convicted of crimes, such as rape, child molestation or kidnapping and released from prison within the last 10 years was required to register.\nThe Web site, which includes photographs, addresses and a list of convictions for those who have registered, went online after the state Supreme Court ruled against a legal challenge to its constitutionality.\nSheriff's departments, however, face troubles, including a lack of manpower, confusion regarding the law and offenders who move from county to county, in making sure the list is complete.\n"Nothing is going to be a foolproof system," Henry County Sheriff Kim Cronk told The Star Press. "No matter what you do, there are going to be errors. I am sure we have plenty of them. But right now, it is only as good as the criminals."\nOffenders are required to register with their county sheriff's department within seven days of their release from prison. Violators can be arrested on felony charges.\nPolice in Henry, Randolph and Delaware counties are looking for 15 offenders from those counties, who, according to the state's Department of Correction, have been released from prison but have not registered anywhere in the state.\nIn other cases, however, the departments are not even aware they should be looking for particular sex offenders.\nA comparison by The Star Press of the online registry with records provided by the DOC found about 20 people from Jay, Blackford and Henry counties who have been released from prison and were not on the registry as required. Two of them have died, two are incarcerated and two have moved out of the state, but the others would be in violation of state law.\nMike Eslinger, executive director of the Indiana Sheriff's Association, said the online registry was still developing, but already was providing a service to residents who wanted to check on offenders living in their communities.\n"Before, you would have to go to each department and see who is on the registry. Now you can do it from home," Eslinger said. "When they passed the new law we didn't have a lot of time to get things ready. What we have right now is an excellent start, and it is only going to get better."\nThe amount of manpower sheriff's departments devote to checking that offenders are registered varies greatly.\nDelaware County has a deputy assigned to the task, with his only other responsibility being to escort prisoners to court. Meanwhile, in Blackford and Henry counties, a sheriff's department secretary keeps track of registered offenders.\nRandolph County investigator Steve McCord, who is in charge of his department's registry, suggested the offenders be registered before their release from prison.\n"The only thing you can really hope for is that the offender fulfills their obligation," McCord said. "We are overwhelmed. With a swing of the pen, (legislators) changed everything, and it was a cumbersome task to get everything up to snuff. You are talking about a lot of research and paperwork for a small department"