Authorities look for 11 missing sex offenders offenders

Tipsters can call (866) 4WANTED. Rewards are available.

By PATRICIA MEADE

VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER

YOUNGSTOWN — Eleven sex offenders are missing.

Two, Michael W. Anthony and Tommy W. “Shorty” Buckius, are classified as sexual predators. Anthony raped a 2-year-old boy, and Buckius raped a 13-year-old girl, records show.

By law, sex offenders must register their address with the sheriff’s department in their community. Locally, Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana sheriffs’ Web sites list sex offenders’ names, addresses, photos and crimes to promote safety in neighborhoods.

Offenders’ information is also passed on to the Ohio attorney general’s office, which has compiled a statewide database accessible at www.ag.state.oh.us. Some offenders are prohibited from living near areas where children are found — schools, parks and playgrounds, for example.

The 11 sex offenders who failed to register their current address “have absconded and their locations are unknown,” said Deputy U.S. Marshal Dean Michael, Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force coordinator. He said there are seven offenders whose addresses were once, but no longer, registered in Mahoning County and two each in Columbiana and Trumbull counties. Trumbull has secretly indicted the two being sought who remain at large, and their names are being withheld, he said.

Anyone with information that could lead to the capture of Anthony, Buckius, Dameion L. Armour, Nathan P. Clark, James O. Harkleroad, Kenneth Q. Kimbrough, Saunte Moore, Michael M. Patterson or Terry L. Ross is asked to call (866) 4WANTED. Rewards are available.

The Marshals Service, Michael said, works with the three sheriffs’ departments and other law enforcement to track and arrest fugitive sex offenders in the Mahoning Valley. It serves as the lead federal agency responsible for investigating sex offender registration violations under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. The act was passed to “protect the public from sex offenders and offenders against children.”

John Walsh, best known as host of “America’s Most Wanted” TV program, and his wife lost their 6-year-old son, Adam, to a child abductor who then murdered the boy in 1981. Walsh has worked tirelessly since then for crime victims.

Under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, people convicted of sex crimes are required to register in the jurisdiction where they live, work and go to school and, in many cases, also in the jurisdiction where they were convicted. Those who fail to keep registrations current can face up to 10 years in prison, more if they commit a crime of violence while noncompliant.

Sex offenders who fail to register their current address can also be charged under state law.

meade@vindy.com