Registered sex offender released without having to pay bond rearrested

MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — A judge allowed a registered sex offender who was already in jail when he was charged with murder to be released without paying anything.

Antonio Jennings, 37, was convicted of indecent liberties in 2001 and then again in 2007.

In 2015, he was cited for failing to report his new address as a registered sex offender and this year, he was charged with first-degree murder and didn’t have to pay a dime to get out of jail.

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“The system they are going, trying to let everybody out with no accountability just isn’t working,” bondsman Jim Camp said.

Camp is also one of the leaders of NC Jail Watch, which keeps an eye on how people are released from jail.

Jennings is one of the people that Jail Watch said should never get out of jail.

“On April 24, the judge unsecured his bond,” Camp said. “Gave him a $50,000 unsecured bond for murder.”

In other words Jennings got out for free -- an issue called out repeatedly by the chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Kerr Putney.

Putney has expressed his concerns about repeat criminals getting out of jail easily and contributing to the rise in violent crime.

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Police said after Jennings got out, he visited Barringer Academy on multiple occasions, which is something a registered sex offender should never do.

"It’s disturbing my child is here,” one parent said. “I got a kindergartner here who is not capable of defending themselves.”

Investigators told Channel 9 that Jennings used a false name for the school’s computer system, so officials didn't catch him.

But his ankle monitor gave him away.

Jennings is now back in jail.

Cox Media Group