County fed up with sex offenders ignoring law Warrants to replace summonses, letters

Toledo Blade ^ | 12JUN05 | Robin Erb

[QwertyKPH]

Quincy Middlebrooks gets lots of invitations. He just does not answer them.

For years, Middlebrooks and a minority of Lucas County's convicted sex offenders have repeatedly ignored requests from authorities to register their places of residence with the county sheriff's office as required by Ohio's sex offender registration and notification law.

"They're the ones you always have to run after," said Lucas County Deputy Sheriff Mark Woodruff, who verifies that the county's more than 600 registered sex offenders live at the address they provide to authorities.

But now it's no more Mrs. Nice Gal for Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates. Her invitations these days to local sex offenders such as Middlebrooks will be accompanied by an extra incentive to appear at an appointed court date: handcuffs.

"The message is: Look, this is not negotiable. You are required to register by law," Mrs. Bates said. "Do it."

Until recently, Deputy Woodruff and others have taken cases such as Middlebrooks' to a grand jury, and the grand jury has indicted offenders for failing to register or for failing to notify authorities that they've changed addresses.

The problem was this: The indictment was followed only by a summons or notice to appear - essentially letters notifying the defendant of a court date. There was no warrant issued, no entry into the law enforcement database in case the offender was picked up on another charge or a traffic violation.

That's fine for most courts and cheaper than issuing a warrant, said Jean Atkin, Lucas County court administrator. Most defendants show up for their appointed court date, she said.

But for sex offenders already ignoring requests from law enforcement and a judge's summons to register valid addresses, such letters carry no teeth. Worse, some letters are returned to the court as undeliverable, Deputy Woodruff said.

[QwertyKPH]

It's great to see a tougher approach to enforcing registration requirements. Prosecutor Julia Bates is doing right. Arrest them, charge them and prosecute them.

[AmericanChef]

If justice has been served, there'd be no reason to track these freaks. Leave them in jail and protect the innocent.

[Mark was here]

Take Middlebrooks. In 1998, he was convicted of corrupting a minor after having sex with a 13-year-old girl. He was 19. A judge classified him as a sexual predator, the most dangerous of the four classifications of sex offenders at the time.

This guy old enough to be out of high school, had his way with a girl just out of grade school. He is clearly a loser.

With the federal government now in the sex offender registry business, I hope the list targets the true threats, and excludes those that just got caught taking a leak in the wrong place, and get charged with exposure. The real molesters are untreatable, as far as I understand, and should be watched.

[agitator]

"That's fine for most courts and cheaper than issuing a warrant"

Executing warrants cuts into speeding ticket revenue.