Colorado Springs police are notifying the public that a man labeled a sexually violent predator by Colorado Courts has moved into the city and registered an address on Bennett Avenue. James Lee Pierce will be on supervised release and parole after convictions tied to online child exploitation cases in Colorado and an earlier molestation case in Georgia, according to authorities.
Police said they are notifying the public in accordance with Colorado law of a sex offender’s change of address, as reported by KKTV. Pierce is currently registered as living at 827 Bennett Avenue, Apartment C, according to police. The station reported that Pierce has moved to Colorado Springs and will be on supervised release and parole.
Colorado Courts have labeled Pierce as a Sexually Violent Predator, a designation that, per a Colorado legislative reference on the state's sex offender statutes, triggers mandatory community notification. Police describe Pierce as a white male standing 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 130 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes, the same report notes.
A 2015 Conviction Rooted in an Undercover Sting
Pierce's record includes a 2015 Jefferson County conviction for internet luring of a child with intent to exploit, two counts of internet sexual exploitation of a child, and attempted sexual assault on a child, per the same account. That case stemmed from an elaborate undercover operation: in December 2013, a Jefferson County investigator posing online as a teenage girl was contacted by Pierce on a social networking site, and the two communicated for three months, according to The Denver Post.
A Jefferson County jury found Pierce, then 52, guilty of four counts, including attempted child sex assault and internet luring of a child with intent to exploit, the Post reported on February 12, 2015. The newspaper described the case as a Georgia man traveling to Colorado to meet a teen girl he had lured over the internet, only to discover the girl was an undercover officer.
From Georgia to a Colorado Arrest
Pierce's journey to that arrest was detailed by Westword, which reported that he boarded a bus in Marietta, Georgia, and arrived in Denver on April 17 before catching a cab to an address in Jefferson County, where he was taken into custody. Police also say Pierce was convicted of aggravated child molestation in Polk County, Georgia, in 1991, well before the Colorado case unfolded.
Colorado Springs police have designated Detective J.R. Brown of the Registered Sex Offender Unit as the contact for questions about the notification, reachable at 719-444-7672. The department's notification follows standard procedure outlined by the City of Colorado Springs for informing residents when a sexually violent predator relocates into the community.
