W.Va. court spells out re-registry requirements
CHARLESTON (AP) — A state appeals court has ruled that sex offenders are only required to re-register their information after a conviction, not after an arrest.
The court ruled last week that the West Virginia State Police lacked the right to arrest 30-year-old Timothy Judge of Tyler County for failure to re-register on a sex-offender list upon his release from jail in 2010.
Judge complied with re-registering after being convicted on a third-degree sexual abuse charge in 2002. He was arrested in May 2010, on a charge of accessory after the fact to breaking and entering. Police arrested Judge because he didn’t update his sex-offender registry entry.
The Charleston Gazette reports that Thursday’s opinion says the language regarding the offender-registration requirements should be rewritten to more clearly reflect the law’s requirements.
