Four out of 83 registered sex offenders in Effingham County were arrested yesterday in a sweep conducted by local, state and federal law enforcement officers.
Twenty-eight law enforcement officers participated in the sweep, breaking into several teams and working from about 3 p.m. until midnight, according to Effingham Sheriff’s Office spokesman David Ehsanipoor.
In addition to the Sheriff’s Office, the effort, dubbed “Operation Double Check,” included the U.S. Marshals Service, Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Georgia Department of Corrections Probation Office and Georgia State Parole Office.
The focus of the operation was a comprehensive physical verification of every offender, their residences, their employment and compliance with their registration requirements.
Arrested were: Shakeia Green, on a warrant for failure to register from Brooks County and failure to appear from Effingham County; Tony Gordon, probation violation, possession of alcohol; Jason Brown, parole violation, living at an unregistered address; and Corey Garvin, probation violation, possession of drugs and a new charge of possession with intent.
Ehsanipoor said finding only four of the 83 offenders in violation indicates that law enforcement is doing a good job of keeping up with them.
He said the Sheriff’s Office conducts random checks throughout the year, and the office has one person devoted full-time to working with sex offenders.
“We consider this a success,” he said. “Most were complying like they were supposed to. There always will be some people who will have something to hide.”
Ehsanipoor said Brown was not living at the address in Effingham where he was registered. Officers were able to track him down in Chatham County by checking the data from his ankle monitor.
He reportedly told officers he didn’t think the ankle monitor worked.