The sheriff’s office provides policing services to 14 towns within York County. Through a call share agreement, the Maine State Police patrol five of those towns, but the sheriff’s office is responsible for monitoring all of the area’s sex offenders ”“ and almost every town has at least one registered sex offender.

The sex offender statues are complicated. There are different requirements for those convicted between 1982-99, other requirements for offenders convicted between 1999 and 2012, and more strict requirements for those convicted after Jan. 1, 2013. 

A person convicted of a sex offense may be required to register with the state for 10 years, 25 years or life. The length of their registration requirement is dependent upon the severity of his or her crime.

Registered sex offenders must report their place of residence and employment, and they must avoid contact with minors. A lifetime registrant must report to the local police every 90 days to re-register to ensure their information is current.

All registered sex offenders are required to notify local police within 24 hours if they relocate to another residence.

Among his other duties, York County Sheriff’s Office Detective Arthur Titcomb is tasked with keeping tabs on our county’s sex offenders. From a large display board outside his office, patrol deputies are visually reminded of the 77 registered sex offenders within our patrol area. The breakdown is as follows:

Alfred: 8

Acton: 3

Arundel: 7

Cornish: 4

Dayton: 3

Hollis: 5

Lyman: 5

Lebanon: 12

Limerick: 4

Limington: 5

Parsonsfield: 5

Newfield: 4

Shapleigh: 0

Waterboro: 12

Titcomb is often contacted because state officials believe that a sex offender may be out of compliance. That belief is often based upon a letter returned as undeliverable, or a telephone call not returned. The detective usually finds a legitimate issue that affected mail delivery or unreliable telephone service that often occurs in rural settings. Nevertheless, York County’s sex offenders know that their activities are closely monitored, and hopefully, that encourages them to follow the law.

Sometimes, deputies do find offenders who are out of compliance. Two years ago, Sgt. Steven Thistlewood found a registered sex offender camping out in the woods near the Limington baseball fields. He had moved from his Portland residence without notifying the police department. That offender was returned to prison.

In 2013, sheriff’s deputies charged five registered sex offenders with violations during routine compliance checks; most were returned to prison. We discovered one offender left the state. He was charged as a fugitive from justice and was later located by federal marshals in Vermont. He is in jail awaiting trial.

Information about sex offenders in Maine is public information from the Maine Sex Offender Registry, which can be accessed online at http://sor.informe.org/cgi-bin/sor/index.pl.

— William L. King Jr. is chief deputy of the York County Sheriff’s Department.

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