A 42-year-old Comfrey man has been charged with knowingly failing to fulfill registration requirements and failure to mail verification forms within 10 days.
According to the criminal complaint, the predatory offender registry status for Shawn Henry Staudinger was first flagged on April 18, 2024. A compliance check was done on Aug. 10, with Staudinger stating he had received paperwork from Michigan stating he did not need to register any longer, with photos of the paperwork being emailed to the investigator.
However, the email mentioned not needing to register informaiton like email addresses or other internet-related information. The investigator interpreted the letter that Staudinger still needed to register as a predatory offender.
On Nov. 25, officers received a report Staudinger had been stealing electricity from South Central Electric. Deputies learned he still had a non-complaint POR status.
On Jan. 16, deputies learned from child protective services that Staudinger was no longer living at the address listed on his registry. On Jan. 22, a Brown County deputy stated Staudinger was staying with his mother in Springfield. Neither the address or his vehicle had been reported on his POR registry.
Deputies noted Staudinger had not made any efforts to correct his non-compliant status.
If convicted, each of the two counts carries a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both.
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