An Indiana man, formerly convicted of a sex crime against a child, has been slapped with a 21-month prison sentence after failing to keep his sex offender registration current in Minnesota. The U.S. Attorney's Office said that 34-year-old Stephon Rene Jones was busted for not updating his whereabouts, a must-do for Tier III sex offenders like himself. This level represents the highest risk category, requiring a life-long registry and stringent check-ins every quarter.
Having dodged the system since 2018, after leaving Indiana for the North Star State, Jones managed to fly under the radar using fake names and social security numbers, the authorities revealed. Jones even landed jobs with his con, most recently at a language immersion camp, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota.
Jones's past caught up with him on October 20, 2023, when he pleaded guilty to his evasion of the law. And come March 4, Judge Katherine M. Menendez of the U.S. District Court decided his fate. Not only will he serve time behind bars, but also he will be placed under the watchful eye of authorities for eight years post-release as part of his supervised release.
This case got rolling thanks to some determined work by the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI, and local law enforcement. Hillary A. Taylor of the U.S. Attorney's Office took the lead role in prosecuting the case, determined to see justice served for such a serious lapse. Jones, who in 2009 was found guilty of molesting a 7-year-old, is now bound to a lifetime of checking in with authorities, as dictated by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), as per the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota.
