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WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — West Virginia State Police along with the United States Marshall Service conducted Operation Mingo Compliance.
Troopers in Mingo County spent two days checking and verifying registered sex offenders throughout the county. Within those two days, troopers made an attempt to verify 69 of those offenders.
20 offenders were not in compliance. Troopers have issued arrest warrants for those offenders. Three arrests were made throughout the process.
“The offenders who may have moved away from an address that we had registered here and failed to let us know about it, they were arrested,” said Cpt. Mike Lafauci with the West Virginia State Police.
Through the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, the U.S. Marshall Service works with the West Virginia State Police to monitor the sex offender registry.
“We’re able to offer them overtime money which allows them to use their resources and our resources together to conduct these verifications across the state,” added Michael Baylous with the Southern West Virginia U.S. Marshall Service. “They are done randomly.”
Sex offenders are required to check-in once a year.
“Unless they’ve been deemed a violent offender, they’re only required to come in here once a year to register and that’s generally the month of their birth,” said Cpt. Lafauchi. “If something changes, such as their cell phone number, then they’re required to come in and let us know that.”
There are 72 registered sex offenders in Mingo County.