NationStates Jolt Archive

Sometimes I wonder about the water supply in my state, and in my region, especially if someone who's supposed to be a "judge" does something like this.

Sex offender released from Gaston County Jail can no longer be found

GASTONIA — A manhunt is under way for a sex offender convicted in 2004 for taking indecent liberties with a 3-year-old girl.

Gaston County Sheriff’s Office officials, Kannapolis Police and other law enforcement officers are asking for the public’s help in finding 21-year-old Jeffery Dale Fernaays.

“We don’t know where he is and I’m afraid he might have a 10-day head start on us,” said Gaston County Sheriff’s Office Cpl. David Pearson.

Fernaays was released from Gaston County Jail on Oct. 12 on a $25,000 unsecured bond. He had been in jail under a $1 million bond since April 17 for failure to register a change of address when he moved to Gaston County from Cleveland County earlier this year.

A judge agreed to lower Fernaay’s bond from $1 million secured to $25,000 unsecured on Oct. 11, according to an order for bond reduction. The order lists “insufficient discovery” or evidence as the reason for the bond reduction.

Pearson told Fernaays on Oct. 12 that he had 10 days to register his new address in person at the jail or he would be charged with failure to register his address again.

“He never showed up,” Pearson said.

Fernaays was convicted in May 2004 in Cabarrus County on two counts of taking indecent liberties with a child, according to court records.

Fernaays registered as a sex offender and gave deputies his address when he moved to Gaston County in October 2004, according to jail records.

State law mandates that sex offenders register their address with their local sheriff every three months.

A Gaston County court convicted Fernaays for failing to notify change of address on Oct. 14, 2004, according to the Department of Correction Web site.

Fernaays served one year and nine months in prison on that conviction until his release on March 8, 2006.

Fernaays then moved to Cleveland County last year, where he apparently stayed until moving back to Gaston County in April of this year, according to jail records.

He was arrested in April again for failure to register a change of address and giving fictitious information to an officer and was held in jail on $1 million bond until the bond reduction earlier this month.

Fernaays told the public defender’s office that he planned on living at the Salvation Army, said Capt. Darrell Griffin.

“But they don’t allow sex offenders to stay there because women and children are there,”
Griffin said. “He didn’t have an address when he left here.”

A warrant filed Tuesday for failure to notify change of address states that Fernaays lives on the “Streets of Gastonia.”

Fernaays is considered an aggravated sex offender under the state sex offense laws that went into effect on Dec. 1. That means that when he is caught he will have to wear a satellite-tracking device on his ankle for life.

Griffin and Pearson ask that anyone with information about Fernaays call the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office at (704) 869-6800.

You can reach Adam Linhardt at (704) 869-1828.
Link (http://www.gastongazette.com/news/county_11956___article.html/fernaays_address.html)

So we have a guy, who has been not only convicted of child rape, but failure to register on the sex offender list prior, and was in jail for once again not registering himself on the local sex offender list, and the judge, being the well idiot that he is, decides to not only reduce his bond, but make it unsecured, and then let him go!

Who didn't see this coming a mile away?

So we have a guy, who has been not only convicted of child rape, but failure to register on the sex offender list prior, and was in jail for once again not registering himself on the local sex offender list, and the judge, being the well idiot that he is, decides to not only reduce his bond, but make it unsecured, and then let him go!

Who didn't see this coming a mile away?

I do wonder at our judges sometimes. I have been to my fair share of trials(public galley) and I'm often struck by the question whether these people have any grasp on life out side of their privileged shell.

One elderly judge had to ask a court official what the phrase fuck off meant, when he was hearing evidence?

Sometimes I wonder about the water supply in my state, and in my region, especially if someone who's supposed to be a "judge" does something like this.


Link (http://www.gastongazette.com/news/county_11956___article.html/fernaays_address.html)

So we have a guy, who has been not only convicted of child rape, but failure to register on the sex offender list prior, and was in jail for once again not registering himself on the local sex offender list, and the judge, being the well idiot that he is, decides to not only reduce his bond, but make it unsecured, and then let him go!

Who didn't see this coming a mile away?

Someone should explain to the judge that criminals do on occasion break rules.

Someone should explain to the judge that criminals do on occasion break rules.

I figured that was a no brainer. These assholes wouldn't be criminals in the first place if they played nice and followed the rules.

while i'm sympathetic to not telling the cops where you live every couple weeks for the rest of your life, and lying to them on general principle, i have to say, is there some sex-offender code of grooming and appearance that these guys follow?

http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2007/10/25/13/338-FERNAAYS.embedded.prod_affiliate.57.JPG

while i'm sympathetic to not telling the cops where you live every couple weeks for the rest of your life, and lying to them on general principle, i have to say, is there some sex-offender code of grooming and appearance that these guys follow?

Well you know, if he didn't want to tell the cops where you live for the rest of your life, then Ehh maybe you shouldn't have committed the crime that would've put you in that situation in the first place? I'm just throwing that out there.

I'm not sympathetic to him, and I think that he is scum. I'm not sympathetic to the judge either. He's probably an old senile bastard who should've stepped down years ago.

Well you know, if he didn't want to tell the cops where you live for the rest of your life, then Ehh maybe you shouldn't have committed the crime that would've put you in that situation in the first place? I'm just throwing that out there.

you merely assumed the justness of lifetime punishment for the crime, which is the very thing i take issue with.

you merely assumed the justness of lifetime punishment for the crime, which is the very thing i take issue with.

Yes, but have you ever actually talked to anyone who's been molested, had sex with, or raped when they were a child? Do you honestly have any idea how much that messes them up? I know several people who were molested or raped when they were a child and they are messed up, and they'll never be normal because of what happened to them.

So yea, I think that the lifetime of punishment does fit the crime.

Yes, but have you ever actually talked to anyone who's been molested, had sex with, or raped when they were a child? Do you honestly have any idea how much that messes them up? I know several people who were molested or raped when they were a child and they are messed up, and they'll never be normal because of what happened to them.

So yea, I think that the lifetime of punishment does fit the crime.

Conversely I too know several people who have been sexually abused by family members, and some of them(not all) live good, fulfilling, life's and have been able to put that hurt behind them.

Conversely I too know several people who have been sexually abused by family members, and some of them(not all) live good, fulfilling, life's and have been able to put that hurt behind them.

But how long has it taken them to get to that point?

But how long has it taken them to get to that point?

Thats a moot point really. Any emotional damage takes years to work through(if ever) I merely wanted to point out that anecdotal evidence can go any way.

Thats a moot point really. Any emotional damage takes years to work through(if ever) I merely wanted to point out that anecdotal evidence can go any way.

Do you think rapists should be punished?

Thats a moot point really. Any emotional damage takes years to work through(if ever) I merely wanted to point out that anecdotal evidence can go any way.

My point still stands, that people who commit these crimes should face the punishment that our government has set up for them. In case of being a sex offender, that means you're on a list for the rest of your life and your every move tracked. If you didn't want to be on a list, and if you didn't want you every move to be tracked, then you probably shouldn't have committed the crime.

Yes, but have you ever actually talked to anyone who's been molested, had sex with, or raped when they were a child? Do you honestly have any idea how much that messes them up? I know several people who were molested or raped when they were a child and they are messed up, and they'll never be normal because of what happened to them.

So yea, I think that the lifetime of punishment does fit the crime.

wait, so you think the fitting punishment for permanently messing someone up ought to merely be some bureaucratic hassles? seems to me that that hardly matches the importance you appear to place on the matter. surely you would prefer they be kept locked up or something, no?

The whole "Predator registration" thing is bogus. Why wouldn't they do the same for someone who committed assault or any other crime were repeat offences are likely. Privacy is much more important than watching those who are "dangerous". Maybe the government could instead focus on treatment for these people instead of letting them loose and then watching them.

Click Stand;13164360']The whole "Predator registration" thing is bogus. Why wouldn't they do the same for someone who committed assault or any other crime were repeat offences are likely. Privacy is much more important than watching those who are "dangerous". Maybe the government could instead focus on treatment for these people instead of letting them loose and then watching them.

If they're repeat offenders though, ehh I think the chance for successful rehabilitation and treatment are pretty slim. How slim, well I have a better chance of winning the lottery on the same day that I win the AOPA's Cardinal Giveaway, and get asked out by the woman who plays Elliot Reid on Scrubs. Even if we do rehabilitate them, we still have to watch them before, during, and after to make sure that the treatment is working and it's sticking.