Eight registered sex offenders were arrested for failing to report to the Virgin Islands Department of Justice as the department concluded its second round of "Operation Island Sweep," Attorney General Vincent Frazer said Saturday.
Frazer said five offenders were arrested on St. Croix and three on St. Thomas.
Operation Island Sweep was jointly conducted by the DoJ and the U.S. Marshals Service, with the assistance of the Virgin Islands Police Department. It is a territorywide compliance check of all sex offenders residing, attending school and working within the territory was conducted during this past week.
There are 55 sex offenders registered in the District of St. Thomas-St. John and 42 sex offenders registered in the District of St. Croix, Frazer said.
“Sex offenders who were found to be in violation of territorial and/or federal sex offender laws for their failure to report to the Virgin Islands Department of Justice to register were apprehended,” Frazer said Saturday. "We continue to pursue those violators who were not located."
As the agency tasked with monitoring sex offenders in the territory, the Department of Justice remains committed to protecting the families of the Virgin Islands community, the AG said. The registration requirements are necessary to accomplish this task.
“We ask that members of the community continue to visit our website at www.doj.vi.gov or go directly to usvi.nsopw.gov to access the registry and view the list of sex offenders in the territory. We also ask that anyone knowing the whereabouts of a sex offender who is required to register under Virgin Islands law but has failed to do so, to contact us at 774-5666 on St. Thomas or 773-0295 on St. Croix and provide this information to one of our Sex Offender Registry coordinators. You may also provide this information through the email address provided in our registry,” Frazer said.
