The West Virginia State Police have charged several local residents with failure to update their sex offender registry during a compliance sweep.

On February 20, Larry Fields, 32, of Whitman, was charged with three counts of failure to register as a sex offender. When WVSP officers arrived at the Fields residence, they noticed an unregistered vehicle in the driveway. Fields advised officers that he had purchased a new vehicle and sold the “registered” one. Officers also found that Fields had internet access through SuddenLink. He was released on a $3,000 bond.

Joseph S. Osborne, 50, of Kistler, was charged with three counts of failure to register as a sexual offender on February 21. Officers found that the residence Osborne had listed on his registry had burned. They located Osborne at a residence in Kistler where he informed officers that he had been incarcerated until November 2012, and had changed residences and failed to update. Bond for Osborne was set at $3,000.

On February 25, WVSP officers arrested Jody Lee Hall, 42, with two counts of failure to register as a sex offender. During the compliance check, officers had called the number last listed for Hall on the registry, which was updated in May 2012. Officers located Hall walking down a street in Logan. His bond was set at $3,000.

WVSP arrested Linda G. Messer, 53, of Chapmanville, on February 27. Messer is required to register as a sex offender for

life due to her prior victims being juveniles. Messer was found at 2623 Crawley Creek Rd., Chapmanville, but the last address given on the sex offender registry is Verdunville. She said had lived in a single-wide trailer behind Giovanni’s Pizza in Chapmanville until November 2012, when she moved to the Crawley Creek address. A check of Messer’s criminal history revealed a false social security number on her prior sex offender registry information. On February 29, 2012, Messer was charged with failure to report for her annual sex offender registration during the month of her birthdate and charged again on September 13, 2011, when officers discovered the phone number did not belong to her and the address provided was not a valid address. Bond for Messer has been set at $5,000.

In West Virginia, persons convicted of sexual offenses must register their full name, including any aliases, nicknames or other names used by the registrant; the address where they intend to reside at the time of registration; the address of any habitable real property owned or leased by the registrant that he/she regularly visits; the name and address of the registrant’s employer or place of occupation at the time of registration; the names and addresses of any anticipated future employers or places of occupation; the name and address of any school or training facility the registrant is attending at the time of registration and the names and addresses of any schools or training facilities the registrant expects to attend; Social Security number; full-face photograph; A brief description of the crime or crimes for which they were convicted; Fingerprints and palm prints; Information related to any motor vehicle, trailer or motor home owned or regularly operated by a registrant, including vehicle make, model, color and license plate number; Information relating to any Internet accounts and the screen names, user names or aliases the registrant uses on the Internet; and information related to any telephone or electronic paging device numbers that the registrant has or uses, including, but not limited to, residential, work and mobile telephone numbers. Any changes to the above list must be noted in the sex offender registry within 10 days.

The WVSP reports that there are approximately 3,500 offenders listed on the registry and the list has grown by more than 400 offenders each of the past three years. Another 1,200 offenders are incarcerated and will be registered when they finish serving their sentences.

The sex offender registry can be found at www.statepolice.wv.gov.