Few Ohio counties use funds to find sex offenders

Associated Press

DAYTON, Ohio

Only 13 of Ohio’s 88 counties have used available federal funds to bring back convicted sex offenders who have fled the state without registering with authorities, and the attorney general is urging more counties to make use of that money.

State Attorney General Mike DeWine last April set up a program to reimburse counties for the cost of bringing convicted sex offenders back when they flee to avoid laws that require them to register with authorities on a regular basis. But DeWine is concerned that only 22 convicted sex offenders have been brought back under the federally funded program, the Dayton Daily News reported (Tuesday.

“We would love to have more counties come forward to use this money to put these sex predators behind bars,” DeWine said.

Only $30,000 of the $100,000 available when the program started has been used.

Ohio has 19,050 registered sex offenders, and 10,527 of them were involved in offenses against children, the newspaper reported. DeWine recently identified more than 100 Ohio offenders who are being sought out of state and announced plans to more aggressively pursue those who violate registration laws.