A man who failed to register as a sex offender after being convicted in Noxubee County on fondling charges is being held in an Ohio jail awaiting extradition.
Nathaniel Patton, 52, whose last-known address was on Sixth Avenue North in Columbus, did not register as a sex offender in 2001 when released from the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Patton was convicted of fondling in 1997, under Mississippi Code Section 97-5-23 — “touching, handling, etc., child, mentally defective or incapacitated person or physically helpless person.”
“He served time, and in 2001, he disappeared on us,” said Detective Tony Cooper of the Lowndes County Sheriff”s Office.
Upon release, convicted sex offenders have three days to register in their county of residence. Offenders can register at the local sheriff”s office or highway patrol substation.
“Essentially what they”re doing is changing their address,” explained Cooper, who noted the new address then is updated at the Mississippi Department of Public Safety”s sex-offender registry — www.sor.mdps.state.ms.us.
After years of staying under the radar, Patton applied for a driver”s license in Franklin County, Ohio.
Lowndes County sheriff”s deputies who also work on a task force with the U.S. Marshals Service then found Patton in a database and notified their counterparts in Ohio.
Patton was arrested by U.S. marshals at 5 o”clock Monday morning and is being held in Franklin County Jail in Columbus, Ohio.
If Patton signs a waiver, local authorities could pick him up within a week; otherwise, the process could be delayed for weeks.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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