Full Notification

Contact: Katie Carlson, PIO
Desk: 317-327-6979
Mobile: 317-374-6365

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 12, 2014

 “Back to School” Sex Offender Sweep Completed

On Friday, September 12^th, Marion County Sheriff John Layton announced the results of the “Back to School” Sex Offender sweep. The sweep was conducted by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Beech Grove Police Department, the Lawrence Police Department and the Speedway Police Department over the course of September 8^th and September 9^th.

The sweep’s main initiatives were to track down convicted sex offenders with failure to register warrants, increase sex offender patrols around school zones throughout Marion County, and to conduct compliance checks on sexually violent predators.

During the sweep, a total of 52 warrants were cleared, including 22 warrants for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender, 6 warrants for Robbery, 6 warrants for Criminal Confinement, 2 warrants for Child Molestation, 1 warrant for Domestic Battery, and 1 warrant for Murder. Additionally, a tip obtained during the sweep led to an arrest by U.S. Marshals in Chicago for 3 counts of Child Molestation.

Also, over the course of those two days, vehicles equipped with ALPRs (Automatic License Plate Readers) swept parking lots and surrounding areas of 97 schools and 20 parks throughout Marion County. In addition, 197 compliancy checks were completed for sexually violent predators.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office previously released a “Wanted” poster with the faces and names of nine convicted sex offenders believed to be living in Marion County with warrants for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. Of those nine, Dejuan Daniels and Patrick Bratton were captured during the sweep. Another, Anthony Smith, saw the poster on the news and turned himself into authorities. Oliver Johnson, Donzahe Pearson, and Travis Dennison were all arrested with warrants for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender. Other arrests made during the sweep include: Carla Howard, who had a warrant for three counts of Child Molestation; Rondale Conway, who had warrants for 4 counts of Robbery and 4 counts of Criminal Confinement; and Scott Kiefner, who had a warrant for Murder.

Sheriff Layton stated: “I am so grateful to the agencies that were a part of this sweep. By working together, we were able to put a large number of sex offenders back in jail where they belong. For a reason I’ll never understand, some of these sex offenders don’t think that the sexual offender registry laws should apply to them. We will do everything in our ability to find them and put them back in jail. As our Deputies and so many other fine police officers increased patrols around schools and parks, as well as the neighborhoods where sexually violent predators live, we heard over and over that people were happy to see us out there. That’s what this is all about… making the people and children of Marion County feel safe.”

For additional information contact Katie Carlson at [email protected], 317-327-6979 or 317-374-6365.

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