ST. THOMAS — Local and federal law enforcement officers conducted a five-day sex offender compliance check operation on the islands of St. Thomas and St. John, announced U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Friday. The effort was a joint operation that included members of USMS, the V.I. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the V.I. Police Department

Operation Guarded Angels” was a collaborative effort to ensure registered sex offenders in the territory maintain their registration requirements, stated the release.

This weeklong operation, which took place from May 2-7, involved checking the residential addresses and other registration requirements of 60 registered sex offenders (54 on St. Thomas and 6 on St. John).  At the conclusion of the operation, 58 of the offenders were in compliant status, while two were apprehended and face local charges for violating their registration, said USMS.

“There is nothing more important to a community than keeping our children and neighborhoods safe,” said USMS Chief Deputy Jeremy Honaker. “These types of operations ensure registered sex offenders properly follow their registration requirements.”

The USMS is the nation’s oldest federal law enforcement agency. The Marshals Service is the federal government’s primary agency for conducting fugitive investigations and has a critical role in implementing the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction strategy.

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