Wisconsin corrections officials don't have current info for nearly 3,000 sex offenders

Molly Beck | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - State corrections officials don't have current information for nearly 3,000 people convicted of sexual crimes, a new state analysis shows.

Of the more than 25,000 offenders on the state's Sex Offender Registry, 2,735 are considered noncompliant as of Aug. 20 — which could mean the offender has reported a false address to the Department of Corrections or they haven't updated their place of employment with the state, among other violations.

Among the offenders who are noncompliant, 308 have absconded — or are refusing to keep in touch with DOC agents, according to a recent Legislative Fiscal Bureau analysis.

"I just find it pretty outrageous and unacceptable that we have thousands of sex offenders unaccounted for," said Rep. Sondy Pope, D-Cross Plains, who requested the analysis.

Governor Scott Walker sees "no value" visiting the Wisconsin prisons As governor, Scott Walker has not visited any of the correctional facilities he oversees.

RELATED: Homeless offenders create gaps in Wisconsin’s GPS monitoring system

DOC spokesman Tristan Cook said the number of sex offenders who have intentionally stopped communicating with agents is in the hundreds, not thousands. He said non-compliance doesn't always mean the offenders are "missing" as Pope suggests and noted "high-risk" offenders wear tracking devices monitored by DOC officials 24 hours a day.

"Representative Pope is conveniently distorting the truth," Cook said. "These sex offenders are not 'missing,' they are noncompliant with sex offender registration requirements."

Cook said an offender is considered noncompliant if he or she:

Fails to mail back a registration or confirmation letter.

Fails to update DOC with changes to an offender's address, employment, schooling or internet handles.

Provides false information on a registration or confirmation letter sent to DOC officials.

Fails to report or have their photograph taken.

Is deported and fails to alert DOC officials within 10 days of returning to their home country.

"When a registered sex offender becomes noncompliant, the department is generally able to contact the offender to quickly bring them into compliance to protect the public," Cook said.

But if a sex offender intentionally fails to remain compliant, that offender can be charged with a felony.

Cook said in 2017, DOC referred 709 cases of noncompliant sex offenders to district attorneys for prosecution and another 404 cases so far in 2018.

Pope, who sits on the Assembly Corrections Committee, requested the breakdown before a registered sex offender from Lincoln County with a history of noncompliance was charged with allegedly touching the genitals of a 13-year-old boy, offering to perform oral sex on him and trying to kiss the boy several times.

RELATED: Merrill sex offender faces new charges; teen boy escaped at truck stop in Bellevue

RELATED: Scott Walker and Tony Evers: Fact-checking the candidates for Wisconsin governor

"I think the fact that a child was assaulted is an indication that harm is being done," Pope said about the case. "This is not a fabricated concern."

The analysis comes at a time when Gov. Scott Walker is seeking re-election by blasting his opponent, state schools Superintendent Tony Evers, for not revoking the licenses of teachers who have looked at pornography at schools and who have been accused of other sorts of sexual misconduct.

Teacher watching porn becomes issue in race for governor The day after the election Scott Walker and Tony Evers gave differing versions about how Evers handled a teacher caught watching pornography.

RELATED: Tony Evers and Scott Walker are fighting over a teacher who looked at porn at school — here's the rest of the story

RELATED: Second former Scott Walker aide criticizes governor on public records, makes ad for opponent Tony Evers

Pope says Walker should get his own house in order.

"I watch what Governor Walker is doing to Tony Evers and I think goodness me," Pope said. "Here you sit with 3,000 sex offenders unaccounted for and what are you doing?"

Pope said the number of sex offenders not in compliance with state law is another example of Walker's inattention to corrections issues in Wisconsin.

"He won't even visit Lincoln Hills," Pope said, referring to the state's youth prison that has been under investigation for alleged abuse of juvenile inmates for three years.

Austin Altenburg, spokesman for Walker's campaign, said Pope's criticism is unfounded, in part, because of seven pieces of legislation Walker has signed since taking office that add penalties and rules for sex offenders.

"Scott Walker has a proven record of being tough on sex offenders," Altenburg said.

One measure Walker signed bans sexually violent offenders from living within 1,500 feet of a school, day care, youth center, church or public park.

Altenburg criticized Pope for failing to acknowledge that the percentage of noncompliant sex offenders had dropped from 18 percent in 2005 under Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle to just under 11 percent as of Aug. 20 when the analysis was completed.

But a DOC report released in November 2011 shows the percentage of non-compliant offenders had dropped to from 18 percent in 2005 to 10 percent that year, after Doyle created a new team to enforce compliance.

Cook said the department currently has 18 agents on the team who work to keep sex offenders in compliance with registration requirements.

He said DOC is "extremely proactive" about bringing noncompliant sex offenders with arrest warrants to justice with teams that include retired law enforcement officers and a retired prosecutor who partner with the U.S. Marshal's Service to apprehend fugitives.