James E. Green - Noncompliant Sex Offender

A judge rejected a plea deal Monday that would have released a sex offender on surety bail.

James E. Green, 43, with a last known address of 13 Wedgewood Road, was brought from the Rockingham County House of Corrections to Portsmouth District Court Monday, when he waived his right to a probable cause hearing. That waiver moved his felony case — alleging he failed to notify police that he moved to Portsmouth — to the Superior Court.

During the same hearing, prosecutor Corey MacDonald told the court an agreement was reached which would change Green’s bail from $5,000 cash to $5,000 cash or surety, meaning he would be able to post $5,000 worth of collateral in lieu of cash. MacDonald also told the court the agreement would include Green being barred from the Gosling Meadows public housing neighborhood if he posts the bail.

Noting “the nature of the offense,” Judge Gardner said she would not accept the surety portion of the agreement.

Green is charged with a felony count of “sex offender registration/ duty to report,” alleging he was living in Gosling Meadows with a woman and her 6-year-old child, without informing local police he was residing in the city. Police say Green was convicted in Massachusetts in 1984 for raping a child under the age of 16.