Otsego County Man Sentenced to Approximately 7 Months’ Imprisonment for Failing to Register as a Sex Offender

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of New York:

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Michael Hawkins, age 60, of Maryland, New York was sentenced today to just short of seven months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release for failing to register as a sex offender as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”). The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, David L. McNulty, United States Marshal for the Northern District of New York, and Sharon B. MacDermott, Special Agent in Charge of the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, New York Field Office.

During his earlier change of plea hearing, Hawkins acknowledged that he was convicted in 1997 in Rhode Island of First-Degree Child Molestation and Second-Degree Child Molestation. He served 20 years in prison for those crimes and became required to register as a sex offender under SORNA for 25 years upon his release. At the time of his arrest in this case, Hawkins had been residing in Otsego County New York for several months after having relocated from Rhode Island and did not report his change of address to the Sex Offender Registry in either jurisdiction, as required by SORNA.

This case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service and the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Gadarian as part of Project Safe Childhood. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc