METRO DIGEST || Offenders found

Offenders found

YOUNGSTOWN

The roundup of 18 convicted sex offenders, indicted secretly by a Mahoning County grand jury for failing to notify authorities of their change of address, concluded Wednesday.

Sheriff Jerry Greene said 16 of the 18 people indicted March 5 were found.

Deputy sheriffs, along with U.S. marshals with the fugitive task force, spent most of Tuesday and part of Wednesday tracking them down.

Those who were indicted were convicted of various sex offenses. Part of their sentences included notifying authorities of their address when they were released from prison or whenever they move. They are accused of not notifying the authorities of their new or current addresses.

They are expected to be arraigned in common pleas court today.

Dodgeball tourney

POLAND

Poland Seminary High School’s Student Council has organized an event today that will benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that supports military veterans.

The high school will host a dodgeball tournament featuring about 10 teams that will face off beginning at 6 p.m. today. Teachers also will participate in the tournament.

The event also features a Chinese auction and concessions.

Home ransacked

YOUNGSTOWN

A 30-year-old woman in the 2700 block of Julian Avenue told police three men, two of them armed, forced their way inside her South Side home about 3 a.m. Tuesday and ransacked it.

Reports said the woman let her cousin and two other men she knew in after they knocked on her door. One of the men had an assault rifle and the other had a semi-automatic pistol.

Reports said they forced the woman to get on the ground and took a video-game system, jewelry, cash, two cellphones and a bank card.

The men threatened to shoot her dogs before they left, reports said.

Man sentenced on child-porn charges

WARREN

A Youngstown man is going to prison for distributing child pornography in Trumbull County.

Common Pleas Court Judge Andrew Logan sentenced Steven Balla, 32, to two years in prison on Tuesday, according to 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner. Balla was convicted earlier on charges of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor.

According to an indictment, Balla distributed a videos depicting a female toddler engaged in sexual activity with an adult male.

Meeting canceled

LOWELLVILLE

The Lowellville board of education has canceled the special board meeting scheduled for today at 7 p.m. in the library media center.