Butler County deputies check in 150 on registered sex offenders

HAMILTON, Ohio - There are more than 500 registered sex offenders in Butler County, and Thursday, teams of sheriff's deputies fanned out across the county to verify their locations.

It's been about two years since the sheriff's office has done an operation like this. They were surprised to find the vast majority of the 150 registered offenders were at the addresses they checked today.

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification, or SORN Operation focused on locating the most serious offenders. They're called Tier 3 offenders, and they're required by the courts to tell the sheriff's department where they live and where they work. However, it's up to the sheriff's department to verify that information.

"It doesn't matter how many offenders there are in this county," said Lt. Mike Craft with the Butler County Sheriff's Department. "The sheriff's going to check on them and they better be where they're supposed to be."

Today, only about five offenders were not at the addresses they gave to the sheriff's department. Warrants were issued for their arrests.

Kraft said there are officers assigned to verify the location of offenders every day, but they can only cover to many offenders in one day. Thursday's effort involved about 16 two-officer teams with up to ten addresses to check. The teams were also given felony warrants to serve as well.

If you want to check for registered sex offenders living in Butler County, click on the link below.

http://www.icrimewatch.net/index.php?AgencyID=55229&disc

For other counties' sex offender registries, contact your local sheriff's office or police department.