Law enforcement agencies announced this week that during the month of July a targeted investigation looked into whether registered sex offenders on the East End were properly reporting to authorities.
The United States Marshals Services, the Suffolk County Police Department Special Victims unit and police agencies from Southampton Town, Southampton Village, Southold town, East Hampton and Riverhead took part in "Operation Lighthouse," to ensure offenders were in compliance with the State Sex Offender Registry Act.
Teams visited the homes of 60 sex offenders over the course of four days. They found that 55 offenders, or 92-percent, were deemed to be in compliance. Five offenders had to be located and were arrested for violating the registration mandates. The Suffolk County District Attorney's office is prosecuting them.
"We know that the population of the East End can more than double during the summer months and we want to make sure we are doing everything possible to keep our children safe," said Charles G. Dunne, the United States Marshal for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.
East Hampton Patch reported previously that , 46, of East Hampton, was arrested on July 24 after he reportedly failed to register as a sex offender. East Hampton Town Police Detective Sgt. Chris Anderson said Smith was the only one arrested in the Town of East Hampton during the "Operation Lighthouse." The names of the four others arrested on the East End were not immediately made available, though were found to be in compliance with the law.
Anderson said that all eight offenders that live in the town were visited. "This is something we do anyway, routinely, throughout the year," Anderson said.
Reports state that following a sex offender registry investigation, it was found that Smith had failed to register, and was reportedly found in possession of several pills. He was arrested on charges of failing to register, and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, as well as holding a controlled substance in a non-original container. In 1986, Smith was convicted of first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy.
