KINGSHILL — A St. Croix man was arrested last week after authorities received a tip that he was an unregistered sex offender.
Javier Rodriguez, 40, was taken into custody by special agents with the Virgin Islands Justice Department’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act unit on Thursday, Attorney General Denise George said. Rodriguez was arrested for failure to comply with registration requirements for sex offenders in the Virgin Islands.
Rodriguez was advised of his rights on November 18 in Virgin Islands Superior Court. He was arrested at the V.I. Department of Justice Office on St. Croix based on a warrant signed by Judge Ernest Morris on November 9, 2022.
The suspect is charged with Title 14 VIC section 1724 (b) (3), Failure to Comply with Sex Offender Registry – failure to register his change of address or employment to the US DOJ within the requisite three-day period. An offender is required to report any changes to employment, residency, etc. within three business days as required by law.
Rodriguez was convicted on July 29, 2008, for the crime of unlawful sexual contact 1st degree.
Pursuant to Chapter 86, Section 1722 of Title 14 of the V.I. Code, Rodriguez is required to register as a sex offender with the Virgin Islands Department of Justice and keep his registration current. His registry with SORNA commenced on November 9, 2017. He is registered as a Tier III offender and therefore must register every three (3) months, for the rest of his life.
A registered sexual offender must notify the VIDOJ of his/her name, residence, temporary
lodging information, vehicle information, Internet identifiers, telephone numbers, school
information, and employment status.
A team of Special Agents from the VIDOJ and Sexual Offender Registry (SORNA) unit, with the assistance of U.S. Marshals and other local and federal agencies, routinely conducts unannounced inspections of registered sexual offenders to verify their locations and other personal information, such as their work and home addresses. The Attorney General/VIDOJ is legally mandated to administer and enforce the sex offender registration laws.
Registered sexual offenders in the territory are prosecuted by the Attorney General for either failing to register or not keeping their registration current, as required by this law, and if convicted, the penalty is a fine of not less than $3,000.00 nor more than $5,000.00, or
imprisonment for not less than three months nor more than two years, or both.
The law also provides that it is an offense to assist a sex offender to evade the registration requirements, which carries a fine of not less than $1,000.00 nor more than $2,000.00, imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
[wpedon id=23995]The sex offender registry is available for public view at https://usvi.nsopw.gov