HILO — Almost one in five Big Island sex offenders is noncompliant with state sex offender registry requirements.
As of Sept. 11, 73 of 402 “covered offenders” — those required to register — weren’t in compliance with the state’s registry law, according to figures from the Department of the Attorney General’s Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center. That’s more than 18 percent.
Those numbers are down from a June 1 report from the HCJDC obtained by the Tribune-Herald. At that time, there were 401 covered offenders in Hawaii County, of which 89 were deemed noncompliant, a rate of more than 20 percent.
“That’s very concerning for me,” Hawaii County Prosecutor Mitch Roth said when informed of the figures.
Anyone convicted of a felony sex offense or multiple misdemeanor sex offenses who lives in Hawaii is required by law to register, whether those convictions took place in Hawaii or elsewhere.
The registry contains the offender’s name, date of birth, home address, street of employment or school, list of convictions covered under sex offender reporting requirements, a photo of the offender, identifying scars and marks, and whether or not the individual is in compliance with registration requirements.
Hawaii County’s noncompliance rate is second-worst among Hawaii’s counties.
Maui’s noncompliance count as of Sept. 11 was 64 out of 297 covered offenders, a rate of 21 percent. The City and County of Honolulu, which has about five times the Big Island’s population, had 176 noncompliant offenders out of 1,441 overall, or 12 percent. Kauai County had the lowest noncompliance rate among the counties, with only five offenders deemed noncompliant of 135 individuals required to register, less than 4 percent.
HCJDC assistant administrator Laureen Uwaine said covered offenders must report to police yearly within the 30 days following their birthday. In addition, a verification form is mailed to each offender’s address of record every 90 days, which, by law, must be filled out and returned.
“That is (how) we try to keep our information current,” Uwaine said. She added changes of address, employment or educational status also must be reported within three business days of the change.
Despite Hawaii County’s high rate of noncompliance, arrests and prosecutions of noncompliant sex offenders are relatively rare.
Since Jan. 1, 2014, only 14 individuals have been arrested and charged for noncompliance with registry requirements in Hawaii County, according to police booking logs compiled by the Tribune-Herald.
Of those arrests, one offender, Everett T.K. Akimseu of Hilo, was arrested twice, in January 2014 and again in August 2015. He’s currently incarcerated in Arizona. The most recent offender to come to attention of authorities is Ramon Kawika Molina, who was indicted Sept. 11 for noncompliance by a Kona grand jury and arrested on Tuesday.
The AG’s office has an investigator in Hilo and another in Kona whom Uwaine said “help to follow up on noncompliant offenders.”
Uwaine said the investigators do “compliance checks,” making contact with individuals who haven’t kept their registry information current. They also perform initial criminal investigations and forward cases they deem warrant further action to county prosecutors.
“Sometimes, if mere contact with the person will bring them back into compliance, then they may not make a case,” said First Deputy Prosecutor Dale Ross.
According to Ross, prosecutors are currently evaluating 11 cases of registration
noncomplaince. She noted there are two levels of noncompliance — the quarterly and annual reporting requirements — and that failing to report to police for the yearly update is considered more serious.
“That might explain some of the reason why we don’t have the numbers of cases that reflect (the number of noncompliant offenders on the registry),” Ross said. “When we get the cases, we tend to indict them. If we get the cases, if we have sufficient evidence to charge them, we will charge them.”
The Tribune-Herald did its own examination of the online registry for each Hawaii Island zip code. As of Friday, there were 426 offenders listed. Among those individuals, 59 were incarcerated, mostly in Kulani Correctional Facility. While not all sex offenders in Kulani are from the Big Island, all are listed under 96720, since Kulani has a Hilo address.
Of the 367 registered Big Island offenders listed but not incarcerated, 67 weren’t in compliance with registry requirements as of Friday. That’s 18.2 percent, almost a fifth. In addition, 24 were listed as noncompliant longer than a year. Six offenders haven’t been compliant with registry requirements for five years or longer.
All covered offenders are required to register, but not all offenders are listed on the public registry available online at http://sexoffenders.ehawaii.gov or by using the mobile app Hawaii Sex Offender Search.
“Per the statute, those convicted of a single misdemeanor are not subject to public dissemination,” Uwaine said.
Fourth-degree sexual assault is a misdemeanor, while first-, second- and third-degree sexual assault are felonies. Convictions relating to the production and/or consumption of child pornography can also subject the offender to registry.
Noncompliance with sex offender registry requirements is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years imprisonment.