Sex offender arrested for address reporting violation

When sexual offenders and predators are integrated back into the community, there are a number of requirements that become terms of their release — not for six-months, not for six-years, but for the rest of their lives. Historic City News learned of one such offender whose failure to update authorities on his place of residence has landed in the St Johns County Detention Facility.

It will be up to a circuit court judge to decide what will become of 60-year-old Paul Edward Pope Jr., whose offender registration says he resides on Lot A of the trailer park at 2825 Hilltop Road in St Augustine.

Sheriff David Shoar created a special task force to deal with people like Pope and to monitor their whereabouts within the county. The Sexual Predator Offender Tracking (SPOT) task force received information that Pope has been residing in the 1200 block of Cypress Road.

SPOT detectives followed the tip from a concerned citizen and contacted Pope outside the residence at the unregistered address. When they interviewed Pope, he informed the detectives that he had already been residing on Cypress Road “for numerous days this month”.

Pope was taken into custody without incident and without bond; however, he will appear before a magistrate Tuesday morning for his first appearance on the new sex offender violation. The court may allow Pope to update his address and pay a fine, or he may waive the fine. Or, he could return Pope to prison, we will know tomorrow.