By Frank Lewis
A Scioto County sex offender has been sentenced to seven years in prison. Samuel Mullens, 24, of Lucasville, was sentenced by Scioto County Common Pleas Court Judge William T. Marshall following his conviction for failure to register his address as a sex offender.
Scioto County Prosecutor Mark E. Kuhn said the Scioto County Sheriff”s Office received calls from concerned citizens on Ohio 104 in may of this year claiming that a sex offender was living in their neighborhood, at an address different from the one he had registered. The callers had expressed concern for the children in that neighborhood.
Captain David Hall of the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office immediately began looking for Mullens who was required under Ohio’s Sex Offender Registration Law because of his 2009 conviction for rape in Marion County.
Hall told the Daily Times Mullens had moved to Scioto County after serving a five year prison sentence for that charge and was required to register his address with the sheriff’s office as a tier-3 sex offender. Under Ohio law a tier-3 sex offender is required to verify his address with the county sheriff every 90 days and notification is provided to his neighbors whenever his address changes.
Hall said he learned that the address registered on West Avenue in Lucasville was fictitious and that Mullens had been staying for extended periods of time on Ohio 104.
On May 18, 2015 Hall and detective Matt Spencer arrested Mullins at a camper on Ohio 104 for sex offender registration violations.
Kuhn represented the state of Ohio in the case. A Scioto County petit jury heard the testimoney of eight witnesses including Scioto County Engineer Craig Opperman, who confirmed that the address given by Mullens was fictitious. The jury deliberated for 1 1/2 hours before returning a guilty verdict on both registration offenses.
Mullens remains loded in the Scioto County Jail awaiting transport to the custody of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections.
Reach Frank Lewis at 740-353-3101, ext. 1928, or on Twitter @franklewis.
