9 Investigates

9 Investigates: Some NC sex offenders have no traceable address

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dozens of convicted sex offenders in Mecklenburg County are registered as “homeless” and keeping track of them is becoming increasingly difficult for deputies.

Channel 9 tagged along as officers visited a variety of locations in an effort to find those offenders.

Mecklenburg County Deputy John Nall pushed through thorn bushes and over loose rocks as he made his way to a bridge on Statesville Road in north Charlotte.

He was searching for a sex offender convicted of raping a 12-year-old. The bridge is what the man officially lists as his home.

“Sheriff’s office!” Nall yelled as he made his way under the bridge. “Has Mr. Burress been back up here?”

The man he was seeking is one of 68 sex offenders in Mecklenburg County who was registered as homeless. Several times a year, deputies must verify the location of each offender.

Nearby residents might have no idea that the offenders are there. Channel 9 shadowed deputies and saw firsthand the challenges they face to verify those individuals.

“He isn’t here?” asked Channel 9 reporter Alexa Ashwell.

“No,” replied Nall. “It’s common. We come out here four, five, six, seven times and not find them. We keep coming back.”

Several checks took Channel 9 into the woods. Pink spray paint led Nall to a tent off Caldwell Street, just outside uptown.

He said many offenders are cooperative and some even mark their areas to help officials locate them. However, the offender Nall was looking for wasn’t there, so the deputy will have to return.

The next stop took Channel 9 even deeper into the woods, off North Tryon Street, near Eastway Drive.

“See the orange tag,” asked Nall. “He marked it so we know where to go into the woods.”

Nall led Ashwell to another offender who was convicted in the 1990s of indecent liberties with a 4-year-old.

“Is this one of the reasons you’re homeless?” Ashwell asked the man.

“Yes,” he replied.

A motel in South Charlotte was another stop in the search for the offender.

“What we're going to do is check with the office and see if he's actually staying here,” explained Nall as he walked towards the motel.

After a quick conversation with the desk clerk, officials learned that the offender they were looking for hasn’t stayed at the motel since July. He told Nall over the phone that he was living in his car in the motel’s parking lot.

Although he wasn’t there during this visit, Nall told Channel 9 that the offender would be back.

“The concern here is that if he’s not where he’s supposed to be. Then where is he?” said Nall.

North Carolina’s sex offender registry allows people to find out which offenders live near them, but when Channel 9 searched the locations where we verified homeless offenders, they did not show up on the map.

They popped up only through a specific search by name.

CLICK HERE to search the NC Sex Offender Registry

Channel 9 contacted state and local officials to find out why the system is designed the way it is.

The SBI maintains and oversees the state’s sex offender registry. A spokesperson for the department said that without a structured address, the current system is unable to map the correct location of an offender. The spokesperson also told Channel 9 that the transient nature of that type of location information further decreases the reliability of the information.

“We’re currently evaluating our current sex offender registry and hope to improve its performance in many areas -- identifying the homeless population is one of those areas,” said Wyatt Pettengill, special agent in charge.

Mecklenburg County Sheriff Major Dan Johnson weighed in on the current system.

“As a parent myself, I am always empathetic to the concerns of parents, especially as it relates to keeping their families safe," he said. "The State and National registries are useful tools in staying informed regarding the location of registered sex offenders. However, they are just that -- tools.

"I would stress to them the importance of having continuing safety discussions with their children. Use every available resource to ensure that you are as informed as possible, especially direct contact with your sheriff’s office. If there are concerns about a particular area, MCSO will address those concerns every time.

"Considerable resources are dedicated daily to ensuring that all registered offenders are in compliance with registration requirements and when violations are found through the diligent verification efforts of MCSO deputies, charges are sought with all intentions of holding any violators swiftly accountable. All members of the community are an essential force multiplier in these efforts."