BELLEVILLE — An Alaska native who should have been registered as a sex offender has been non-compliant for eight years while living in Green County.
Jonathon Akiuk O’Brien, 34, Belleville, has been residing in the W4000 block of Pine Valley Road in the Town of Exeter “for years,” he told deputies who questioned him before arresting him on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender.
The Green County Sheriff’s Office knocked on the door of the residence at 6 p.m. Aug. 30. Deputies were asked by the U.S. Marshall Service and the Department of Corrections to investigate the location of O’Brien.
His name does not appear in the current online Alaska Sex Offender/Child Kidnapper Registry, but court records indicate O’Brien was sentenced to 15 years on the sex offender registry after being found guilty of second-degree sexual assault on Nov. 7, 2005. As part of his sentencing, charges of first-degree sexual assault, a minor consuming alcohol and 4th degree misconduct involving weapons were dismissed.
Alaska state law defines sexual assault in the second degree as a crime if the offender engages in sexual contact with another person without consent, or if the person is unable to consent because they are mentally incapable, incapacitated or unaware that a sexual act is being committed while under the care of an offender, including health care workers. It is considered a Class B felony.
When officers arrived, O’Brien answered the door and, upon questioning, admitted he knew he was meant to be listed on the sex offender registry and knew he failed to update proper authorities that he had moved, indicating he never attempted to notify anyone of his change of address to Wisconsin. When asked by a deputy if he would like to describe the crime which required his registration, O’Brien declined.
Court records indicate he had been living with at least two other people and neither knew of his prior conviction. He has also fathered two children since he began living in Wisconsin.
O’Brien said he purposefully avoided registering in order to “keep a low profile.” He has been non-compliant since August 2010. Marshalls notified the sheriff’s office that the last registered date of compliance for O’Brien was in November 2009.
The Green County charge is a Class H felony count of failing to provide sex offender information. A Class A misdemeanor count of the same charge was filed in January 2011 in Alaska, according to online court records.
Per Alaska state law, one year is added to the registration requirement for each year the offender fails to comply.
O’Brien appeared in Green County Circuit Court Aug. 31 by video from the Green County Jail for an initial appearance. He signed a cash bond of $2,000 and a $5,000 signature bond on Sept. 4. The court appointed Guy Taylor as his public defender the following day. Conditions of the bond specify that O’Brien is prohibited from traveling outside of Dane or Green County and that he has to notify the district attorney’s office within 24 hours of an address change.
He has a preliminary hearing Sept. 24.