V.I. on Track To Meet July Deadline To
Comply With Federal Sex Offender Law

By Andrea Milam
St. John Tradewinds

The Virgin Islands task force
responsible for bringing the ter-
ritory into compliance with the
Sexual Offender Registration and
Notification Act (SORNA) by July
of this year is well on its way to
accomplishing its goal.

The V.I. Department of Justice
is also just a month away from
revealing its new Web site, which
will feature an online registry of
local sex offenders.

The SORNA task force, which
met for the fifth time last month,
must bring the territory into “sub-
stantial compliance” with federal
law, according to the act, or face
a 10 to 15 percent loss of Edward
Byrne Memorial Justice Assis-
tance Grant Program funds.

The group is reviewing pro-
posed legislation in order to re-
write Virgin Islands law, and is
following a Model Tribal Sex Of-
fender Registration Code provided
by the Office of Sex Offender Sen-
tencing, Monitoring, Apprehend-
ing, Registering and Tracking for
use by Native American tribes in
complying with federal law.

Amendments which have been
proposed by the task force thus far
largely deal with keeping registra-
tions current; addressing offenders
who move to other jurisdictions,
including foreign countries; and
notifying offenders that they are
required to register where they re-
side, work and go to school.

On the agenda for the task
force’s next meeting are reviewing
penalties for failing to register, and
evaluating proposed definitions of
terms to be included in the new
laws governing sex offenders in
the territory.

 

Registered Sex
Offender

Offender: Vere Daley

Birth Date: 2/4/1975

Race: African American, 5’7”
Height: 5’7”

Weight: 135 lbs

Hair Color: black

Eye Color: brown
Markings: tatoos on upper left
and right arms

Crime: 2nd Degree Rape
Conviction Date: 3/5/2005
Last Known Address:
Contant 1-H, Cruz Bay
Employer: Max Griffith

In Compliance: Yes

The task force has yet to tack-
le more complicated aspects of
sex offender law, including how
to treat juveniles and whether to
provide treatment for offenders,
explained V.I. DOJ spokesperson
Sara Lezama.

“Treatment is a consideration
and is also the reason why the
task force is comprised of repre-
sentatives from the Department
of Health, Department of Human
Services and the Sexual Registry
Board,” said Lezama. “These rep-
resentatives are expected to weigh
in heavily when it comes to this
issue.”

Another difficult issue faced
by the task force is the restriction
of where sex offenders can live.
Many states do not allow offend-
ers to live within a certain distance
from schools and day care facili-
ties; however, the small size of
the islands could prohibit such a
clause from being included in the
new Virgin Islands law.

“As far as residence restric-
tions in and around schools, the
task force is in discussion regard-

ing this issue,” said Lezama. “The
small size of the territory may
make implementing such a restric-
tion quite difficult.”

Failure to comply with SORNA
by July would result in a 10 to 15
percent loss of Edward Byrne Me-
morial Justice Assistance Grant
Program funds, and although the
cost to come into compliance is
greater than the amount of funding
that would be lost, the Virgin Is-
lands is committed to bringing its
sex offender laws up to date.

“The Virgin Islands, and the
attorney general specifically, are
committed to coming into com-
pliance with this deadline,” said
Lezama. “The Department of Jus-
tice and the task force are excited
by the progress that has been made
thus far, and the task force looks
forward to continuing its work.”

The task force is comprised of
representatives from the Office of
the Governor, V.I. Police Depart-
ment, VI. Superior Court, Of-
fice of Probation and Parole, V.I.
DOJ, V.I. Department of Health,
VI. Bureau of Corrections, VI.
Department of Human Services,
Sexual Offender Registry Board
members and the U.S. Department
of Justice.

St. John residents should note
that one offender on the DOJ’s
current registry resides near Cruz
Bay The offender, Vere Daley, is
described as an African American
male, 5’7” tall and 135 pounds.

Daley, who was born in 1975,
has tattoos on his upper left and
right arms, and was convicted of
rape in the second degree in 2005.
His last reported address was in
Contant, and he is employed by
Max Griffith, according to the on-
line registry.

Ancient Shiva-Shakti Teachings Coming to St. John

St. John Tradewinds
Chinello and Nadira Seeram-Haney, two of Sri
Kaleshwar’s senior teachers, will be coming to St.
John this month to give healings, teach classes, per-
form sacred homas (fire pujas) and to host open lec-
tures on some of the divine ancient teachings passed

on to them by their guru.

The St. John free lecture will be on Wednesday,
March 17, at Trinidad Charlie’s house.
Until recently, these teachings have not been wide-

ly taught or available outside of Penukonda, India.

students.

Sri Kaleshwar, a personal student and devotee of
Shirdi Sai Baba, aims to bring a new kind of spiritual-
ity that creates happiness in every person’s heart, to
change the world’s belief system about the way spiri-
tuality is practiced, and to create spiritual masters, not

For directions to Trinidad Charlie’s home, call
Suki Buckhalter at 642-3739 or for more information,
check out www. wayofyoursoul.com/usvi.html.

St. John Tradewinds, March 8-14, 2010

The St. John Band

 

 

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