KINGSHILL — A St. Croix man, who has been in a legal limbo after serving jail time for violating sex offender registration requirements, may finally be headed to Georgia to face prosecution in that state.
Asymo Lion Prentice, 31, of St. Croix, was convicted in 2008 of child molestation and sentenced to serve 15 years in Atlanta, “however, he was released on parole for good behavior after serving eight years,” according to a previous statement issued by the Justice Department. “After Prentice’s release, he traveled back to the Virgin Islands and registered as a Tier 2 sex offender. He was therefore required to register every six months for 25 years.”
VIDOJ mug shot of Asymo Lion Prentice, 31, of St. Croix
Georgia officials charged him with felony violation of the state sex offender registry after he failed to appear for his annual check-in appointment in Oct. 2020, and Prentice failed to update his Virgin Islands registration on March 10, 2021 as required, according to Superior Court records.
Prentice was arraigned in Superior Court for failure to comply with registration requirements, Virgin Islands Attorney General Ariel Smith said.
Prentice also has an outstanding warrant from Fulton County, Georgia for a violation of probation based on his conviction of Child Molestation in 2008, according to AG Smith.
Prentice, a registered sex offender was apprehended by Virgin Islands Department of Justice (DOJ) Special Agents (SID) and Sex Offender Registry Notification Act (SORNA) Unit on September 11, 2023, at the DOJ Office of the Attorney General, St. Croix.
Prentice pled not guilty during his arraignment on September 18th. During his advice of hearing
held on September 13, Magistrate Judge Ernest Morris set bail conditions to include posting of a
fully secured bond of $5,500.00 and 24-hour house arrest with the use of an electronic monitor, a
third-party custodian approved by the people of the Virgin Islands, report to probation once a week,
no unlawful contact, direct or indirect with any victims or witnesses in this case and must not
violate any laws of the Virgin Islands.
Prentice remains incarcerated until he finds a suitable third party custodian and pays the full bail amount. Prentice will be extradited to Atlanta to fulfill his obligations for his probation conditions once the U.S. Virgin Islands receives a governor’s warrant from Georgia. During the advice of rights hearing, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office requested his extradition and Prentice declined to sign the waiver of extradition.
Prentice was sentenced to serve 15 years in Atlanta, Georgia, after he was convicted of child
molestation charges in 2008, however, he was released on parole for good behavior after serving
eight years. After Prentice’s release, he traveled back to the Virgin Islands and registered as a Tier 2
sex offender. He was therefore required to register every six months for 25 years.
A team of Special Agents from the VIDOJ and 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. Within three business days of arriving at a new location, 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.
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 or 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, or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
In 1997, the Virgin Islands enacted its first sex offender registration statute and in 2006, the Adam
Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 was enacted by Congress. Title I of that Act is
known as the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act or SORNA.
This Act established a new baseline standard for states to track sex offenders, which required more unity and cooperation among jurisdictions in the registration and notification process.
The sex offender registry is available for public view at https://usvi.nsopw.gov/