Merrill James Powers - Repeat Sex Offender

"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte

	[35-42-4-1] RAPE
		Cause: 48D03 0007 CF 207 Sentence: 20 years, none suspended, consec to sexual battery Conviction County: Madison Conviction State: INDIANA Conviction Date: 11/13/2000
	[35-42-4-2] CRIMINAL DEVIATE CONDUCT
		Cause: 48D03 0007 CF 207 Sentence: 20 years, none suspended, consec to sexual battery Conviction County: Madison Conviction State: INDIANA Conviction Date: 11/13/2000
	[35-42-4-8] SEXUAL BATTERY
		Cause: 48D03 9810 CF 495 Sentence: 3 years, none suspended Conviction County: Madison Conviction State: INDIANA Conviction Date: 05/24/1999
	[35-42-4-2] CRIMINAL DEVIATE CONDUCT
		Cause: 48D03 0007 CF 207 Sentence: 20 years, none suspended, consec to sexual battery Conviction County: Madison Conviction State: INDIANA Conviction Date: 11/13/2000

La Porte police arrested a convicted sex offender Friday after he allegedly attempted to speak to an underage girl in defiance of the terms of his parole.

Police said Merrill James Powers, 31, approached a teenage girl at a convenience store Tuesday and said things that bothered her. She went to Indiana's online sex offender registry and identified him through his description, despite the fact he gave her a fake name, said Capt. Clyde Crass, La Porte Police chief of detectives.

"(She) felt compelled to do her own research," Crass said. Along with her family, she filed a report with the proof of his sex-offender status.

Crass said Powers is expected to be arraigned Friday morning in La Porte Circuit Court. He is being held in La Porte County Jail without bond.

Powers was convicted in 2000 in Madison County, Ind., of rape, two counts of criminal deviate conduct and sexual battery. He was released March 15, moved to La Porte and found a job, Crass said. It is unknown why he came to the city, he said.

Crass said during the investigation, police found out the sheriff's department also was investigating Powers about a similar complaint of enticing teenage girls.

Crass said police sent the report to Powers' parole officer, who went to the court and obtained a warrant for retaking of an offender on parole violation.

As part of Powers' parole, he is not to have contact or associate with anyone under the age of 18, Crass said.

The action of this girl helped prevent further possible victims of the offender, Crass said.

13% of all new sex crimes is committed by someone
who is already on the sex offender registry
..........Sarah Tofte, Human Rights Watch