Sex offender law updated, but list not always complete

Cape Girardeau residents are struggling to understand how a convicted sex offender could live in the city for reportedly six months without having registered with the sheriff's department. Authorities say the system isn't perfect.

When Timothy T. Glas, 35, was arrested Tuesday, it was because he didn't register within 10 days of his arrival. Instead, he told no one and started working as a children's gymnastics coach.

Glas was convicted in Iowa in 1985 for indecent exposure with a young girl, said Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle, who named Glas in court documents as a suspect in the March 12 attempted abduction of a Cape Girardeau middle school girl. Glas remains in the county jail on a $2,500 cash-only bond.

Requiring offenders to register may be the law, but authorities are having a tough time enforcing it, said Sgt. Sharon Jones of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department.

"There's a breakdown there somewhere," she said. "Wherever the conviction occurred, there needs to be a way to track their movements."

There are 90 names and addresses -- now including Glas -- on Cape Girardeau County's registered sex offender list.

But authorities don't know how many other convicted offenders are living in the county and have either not registered or have listed false addresses.

Unless the exchange of such information is streamlined between courts, local law enforcement and other counties and states, no one can be sure when a convicted sex offender moves into the county, Jones said.

She wishes there was a way to receive notification from the county courts when a new offender is convicted and needs to register with her office. But the only way she learns of a new registrant is when they walk in the door.

In the case of Glas, he was brought in by law enforcement as a result of an investigation into the alleged abduction attempt.

"If the court would send over a docket of information showing who was convicted of what, that would make it easier," Jones said. "And if other states and counties would let us know, that'd be nice too."

New wording in August

The law defining registration requirements was last updated on Aug. 28. New wording says convicted sex offenders must, within 10 days of conviction, release from incarceration or placement on probation, register with the sheriff's office in the county in which they reside.

The statute previously said offenders had to register within 10 days of moving into a county -- creating a loophole for those who never actually left Cape Girardeau County after serving time in prison or receiving probation.

Jones has not yet seen a significant increase in the number of registrants because of the new wording.

Anyone can view the list on the department's Internet site at www.capecountysheriff.org, or purchase a paper copy for $2 at the office.

The sheriff's department forwards a copy of the registration form, photographs and fingerprints to the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Criminal Records Division in Jefferson City.

Registration is usually a lifetime requirement unless all convictions requiring registration are reversed or the registrant is pardoned. Offenders must either reregister annually or, if the victim was a minor, every 90 days and on their birthdays.

"We've got some real old ones," Jones said. "One is on a breathing machine."

Failure to register qualifies as a misdemeanor and can garner up to a year in jail or a $1,000 fine. An offender placed on probation is usually kept track of by their probation officer, Jones said. And those offenders typically come in like clockwork.

It's the ones who have finished probation or are in violation of their probation that tend to vanish, she said.

A letter is first sent to the offender's last known address to remind them they must register. If the letter is returned or she gets no reply, Jones contacts the prosecutor's office. She recently turned over the names of four offenders to the prosecutor's office.

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160