U.S. Virgin Islands – Atty General Denise George today announced the arrest of 29-year-old, Asymo L. Prentice of St. Croix. Prentice, a registered sex offender was apprehended by DOJ special agents on May 5th at the DOJ complex at LaReine, St. Croix. He was arrested for failure to comply with registration requirements and violating probation. Prentice’s name was also entered in the NCIC system and it was revealed that he has an outstanding warrant in Georgia.
Asymo L. Prentice was convicted of child molestation charges in 2008 and was sentenced to serve 15 years in Atlanta, Georgia, however, he was released on parole for good behavior after serving 8 years. After Prentice’s release, he traveled back to the Virgin Islands and registered as a Tier2 sex offender. He was therefore required to register every six months for 25 years. After he updated his last sex offender registration on October 22, 2020, he failed to update the next one which was due on March 10, 2021. Also, his last known verification listed his address as Annas Retreat St. Thomas, however, he was located on St. Croix. His location as of his last verification, therefore, was unknown as investigators from the V.I. Department of Justice (VIDOJ) were actively searching for him. Once located on St. Croix, he was asked to report to the DOJ office to update his registration. He was then arrested by investigators upon arrival. After his arrest, his name was entered into the NCIC System that revealed he is presently a fugitive from Justice in Atlanta Georgia and had outstanding warrants. DOJ will commence extradition proceedings so that Prentice will be extradited to Atlanta Georgia.
DOJ special agents located Everton Lavinier, 55, of St. Thomas who was convicted of Rape in the 2nd degree in 1996 failed to register on his last registration date. DOJ located Lavinier, at his home, confirmed his address and had him registered but he was not arrested, due to certain debilitating health conditions.
A team of Special Agents from the VIDOJ and SORNA unit, with the assistance of U.S. Marshals and other local and federal agencies, routinely conducts unannounced inspections of registered sexual offenders to verify their locations and other personal information, such as their work and home addresses. The Attorney General/VIDOJ is legally mandated to administer and enforce the sex offender registration laws. Within three business days of arriving at a new location, a registered sexual offender must notify the VIDOJ of his/her name, residence, temporary lodging information, vehicle information, Internet identifiers, telephone numbers, school information, and employment status. 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 $3,000.00 or more than $5,000.00, 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. In 1997, the Virgin Islands enacted its first sex offender registration statute and in 2006, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 was enacted by Congress. Title I of that Act is known as the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act or SORNA. This Act established a new baseline standard for states to track sex offenders, which required more unity and cooperation among jurisdictions in the registration and notification process.
The sex offender registry is available for public view at https://usvi.nsopw.gov/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5, 2021
Sandra Goomansingh
Media Relations Director
(340)774-5666 ext. 10105
Email: Sandra.goomansingh@doj.vi.gov