A convicted sex offender, charged last year with a second offense, has been indicted by a Pike grand jury for allegedly failing to comply with the state’s sex offender laws, and may be a fugitive from justice.
According to the indictment, handed down Monday, Curtis Albert Pinson, 57, whose address is listed as Ky. 194 East, failed to register relative to a sexual offense.
Pinson was indicted in September for allegedly subjecting a person under 12 years old to sexual contact from Oct., 2007, through April, 2008. The grand jury charged him with first-degree sexual abuse.
According to court documents, Pinson has failed to show up for some pretrial hearings, and, in March, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Ron Burchett sent a letter to Pinson’s attorney, public defender Julio Collado, informing the attorney that if Pinson failed to show up for his pretrial hearing set for April 10, a warrant for his arrest would be sought.
In the letter, Burchett informs Collado that the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office had received information that Pinson absconded.
Burchett also wrote that he was formally withdrawing a tentative offer of probation he had made to Pinson and will seek a prison term instead.
Pinson did not show up for the hearing, and, on April 23, Pike Circuit Judge Steve Combs issued a bench warrant for Pinson’s arrest.
Pike Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Bartley said the new indictment stems from an investigation subsequent to that warrant being issued.
“They went to (Pinson’s) address and he wasn’t there,” Bartley said. “We think he’s left the area. We know for certain he’s not at that address.”
As a registered sex offender, Pinson is required to inform authorities of any address change.
Bartley said the reason for taking back the offer of probation is because one of the conditions his office requires in exchange for a recommendation of probation is that the offender not commit any more crimes. Bartley said the charges contained in the new indictment represent a violation of those terms.
Pinson has pleaded not guilty to the first-degree sexual abuse charge. A hearing in the case is set for June 26.
In 2001, Pinson pleaded guilty to a charge of first-degree sexual abuse, for allegedly abusing a five-year-old relative in 2000. Court documents said he was sentenced to two years in prison, probated for five years.
That probation ended in Aug., 2006.
Pinson was also charged with four counts of third-degree rape in 1996. According to court documents, from June through August, 1996, Pinson allegedly had sexual intercourse with a girl less than 16 years old.
The charges were dismissed without prejudice in 1999, by then-Pike Circuit Judge Charles E. Lowe Jr. Without prejudice means the charges can be brought back against Pinson.
In addition to the charge of failing to register relative to a sexual offense, Pinson was also indicted Monday on a charge of being a persistent felony offender in the second degree, a class C felony. The charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. He faced five years in prison on the first-degree sexual abuse charge.
.........Sarah Tofte
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