The US Virgin Islands Department of Justice announced Thursday, July 7, 2022, that 38-year-old Omar J. Suarez, a registered sex offender, was arrested by Department of Justice (DoJ) Special Agents and the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act unit on St Thomas. Photo: Department of Justice

Suarez was arrested for failure to comply with registration requirements for sex offenders in the Virgin Islands, according to the release.

The DoJ said Suarez is a Tier 3 registered offender who failed to update his registrations. A tier 3 sex offender is someone whose offense is punishable by imprisonment for more than 1 year.

Investigator George O’Reilly along with the agents apprehended Suarez at 12:40 p.m. Thursday at his residence without incident.

Second-degree aggravated rape

According to the release, Suarez was convicted in V.I. Superior Court in May 2003 for second-degree aggravated rape. Pursuant to Chapter 86, Section 1722 of Title 14 of the [US] VI Code, Suarez is required to register as a sex offender with the USVI DoJ and keep his registration current. He is registered as a Tier 3 sex offender and therefore required to appear once every 90 days from his initial registration date throughout his lifetime.

The Department of Justice said a registered sexual offender must notify the DoJ of his/her name, residence, temporary lodging information, vehicle information, Internet identifiers, telephone numbers, school information, and employment status. A team of special agents from the DoJ and Sexual Offender Registry (SORNA) unit, with the assistance of US 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 Department of Justice is legally mandated to administer and enforce the sex offender registration laws. 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. If convicted the penalty is a fine of not less than $3,000 nor more than $5,000 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 nor more than $2,000 or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.