"It's definitely a loophole," said Montgomery County Chief Deputy Phil Plummer. "Half of them that (register as) homeless aren't homeless, they're just playing a game with us."
Local authorities require homeless offenders to register an intersection where they sleep. According to the Ohio Sex Offender Registration and Notification website, many homeless offenders list the Dayton intersection of Patterson and Apple, near a local homeless shelter, but others list areas like Dayton's east side, Five Oaks or the Brown Street area.
In April, Richard Smith, a sex offender who had registered himself as living near a homeless shelter, was arrested by Dayton police after he allegedly raped a young girl inside a Neal Avenue apartment complex. Authorities said Smith was living in the apartment, despite registering as homeless.
Dayton detective Jerry Dix is investigating the case.
"When (sex offenders) start to hide out like this, it’s difficult to find them," Dix said. "Just because they register as homeless, it doesn’t mean that’s what they are, most of the time they aren’t."
Investigators with the sheriff’s office look for Dayton's homeless sex offenders on a regular basis to attempt to independently verify exactly where the offenders are staying, but officials said the homeless offenders are usually not at their registered intersections.
"We know they’re not out there 24 hours a day, so they're somewhere, but we really don’t know where they go," Plummer said.
Currently, Montgomery County Chief Deputy Phil Plummer said most of Montgomery County's homeless sex offenders are in compliance, meaning they register an intersection on a regular basis. Authorities said state law allows sex offenders to stay at unregistered locations for three days without falling out of compliance, prompting some to move from location to location every three days, but officers also believe many are using the homeless façade to allow them to live at permanent residences without notifying neighbors of their criminal history.
"I think there needs to be a better way of keeping up with (homeless sex offenders) when they get out of jail because I don’t want to be living next door to one, that’s the truth," said local resident Betty Blackmon Smith.
In late April, News Center 7 investigators went along with detectives to attempt to find some of the homeless offenders. The search turned up empty. However, one alleged homeless offender, who heard News Center 7 was trying to verify his address, agreed to register his real address on the agreement that his name would not be used in this story.
"I finally got me an address," he said. "I’m about to register it right now because you guys came to my mom’s house looking for me."
Detectives questioned the man and said charges for failing to register his new address could be filed.
News Center 7 investigators also picked several homeless offenders to look for on their own. Crews went to the offenders' registered addresses on multiple occasions, both during the day and at night, but did not find the offenders registered as living there.
Local authorities believe tougher state regulations would help them be better equipped to keep track of exactly where homeless sex offenders go.
Ohio Senator Steve Austria said there are efforts in the works to specifically address the issue statewide.
"As a state, we’re trying to work with our local officials to see how we can better get a system in place to monitor where these individuals are ," Austria said.
But, not all homeless sex offenders are trying to bypass state laws.
"John," a sexual predator who served several years in prison, asked News Center 7 not to use his real name for his protection. He said he has spent the past two years without a home.
"I was sleeping under bridges and eating out of garbage cans," he said. John now has a job and is living with a friend in the Dayton area. He said he registered his new address with authorities because he does not want to go back to prison.
"I’m staying with a friend right now, so everything is looking up for me," John said.
Since initially investigating this story last month, some homeless offenders have registered new addresses.
Below is a list of homeless offenders in Montgomery County as of May 11, 2008.
Andrew Ash Visit His Page
James Barker Jr. Visit His Page
Emory Battle Visit His Page
Dameon Bell Visit His Page
Henry Bennett Visit His Page
Thomas Blake Visit His Page
Calvin Brooks Visit His Page
Dwayne Brown Visit His Page
Scott Carroll Visit His Page
Michael Cattrelle Visit His Page
Robert Copes Visit His Page
Dennis Craig Visit His Page
Murl Farley Visit His Page
Johnny Green Visit His Page
Morris Green Visit His Page
Polly Ingalls Visit His Page
Matthew Jenkins Visit His Page
Curtis Jones Visit His Page
William Jones Visit His Page
Samuel Jordan – NON COMPLIANT as of May 11, 2008 Visit His Page
Douglas Lockhart Visit His Page
Gregory McCrary Visit His Page
Jerry McDougle Visit His Page
Lawrence McKinney Visit His Page
Paul Melke Visit His Page
John Miller Visit His Page
Mark Miller Visit His Page
Lawrence Montgomery Visit His Page
Denver Parsley Visit His Page
Rick Pearson Visit His Page
Jerry Philpot Visit His Page
Tyrone Preston Visit His Page
Kirk Reed Visit His Page
Eric Ross Visit His Page
Joseph Settles Visit His Page
James Simpkins Visit His Page
Jeffrey Titus Visit His Page
Jesse Walters Visit His Page
Bellmon Watts Visit His Page
Charles Wilcher Visit His Page
Anthony Wilder – NON COMPLIANT as of May 11, 2008 Visit His Page
Lawrence Yancy Visit His Page
Derek Young Visit His Page