The V.I. Department of Justice arrested 41-year old Dustin Bue Messerly on charges of not complying with sex offender registration rules. In 2012, Messerly was convicted in Utah of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor and voyeurism by concealed electronic device, according to a release from the V.I. Department of Justice.
V.I. law requires people convicted of sexual crimes to register within three business days of arriving. He was arrested while waiting to board a flight at Cyril E. King Airport, leaving St. Thomas. He was jailed pending his advice of rights hearing.
A registered sexual offender must notify the Justice Department of his/her name, residence, temporary lodging information, vehicle information, Internet identifiers, telephone numbers, school information, and employment status.
A team of special agents work with federal officials to routinely conduct unannounced inspections of registered sexual offenders to verify their locations and other personal information, such as their work and home addresses.
The Department of Justice is legally mandated to administer and enforce the sex offender registration laws. Registered sexual offenders in the territory are prosecuted by the Attorney General for either failing to register or not keeping their registration current, as required by this law, and if convicted, the penalty is a fine of not less than $3,000 nor more than $5,000, or imprisonment for not less than three months nor more than two years, or both. The law also provides that it is an offense to assist a sex offender to evade the registration requirements, which carries a fine of not less than $1,000.00 nor more than $2,000.00, or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
The sex offender registry is available for public view at https://usvi.nsopw.gov.
