NATCHEZ &045;&045; Of 52 registered sex offenders in Adams County, four are unaccounted for.

Steven Lynn Coney, Allen Delon Henderson and Marvin Anthony Jones failed to return their last letter verifying their whereabouts, Sheriff Ronny Brown said.

The other, Sean Patterson, is also wanted by the FBI and has been a fugitive from other charges for several years.

Every 90 days the sex offenders receive a letter from the Department of Public Safety that they are required to sign and send back. If they fail to return the letter the local sheriff’s office is contacted to check the offender’s house. If the offender cannot be found a warrant is made for his or her arrest.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office is actively searching for Coney, Henderson and Jones, Brown said.

The registered sex offenders are listed on the Department of Public Safety Web site, www.sor.mdps.state.ms.us.

Anyone convicted of a sexual offense, including statutory rape, sexual battery, touching a child for lustful purposes, dissemination of sexually oriented material to children and unnatural intercourse, is required to register at the sheriff’s office where they live.

The sheriff’s office keeps a photo, current address, fingerprints and DNA on file for every registered offender.

Brown said the ACSO began updating their files in February in an attempt to make sure all offenders were accounted for. Those who were previously registered were called to the sheriff’s office for a new photo and other updates.

Anytime an offender moves to a new location they must notify DPS and the local sheriff’s office 10 days before relocating.

Those who fail to provide updated addresses or fail to re-register every 90 days are subject to arrest.

Sheriff’s offices can charge them with a new crime, failure to register as a sex offender, or simply work to get them into compliance, Brown said.

The ACSO turns the case over to the District Attorney for a final decision, he said.

Brown encouraged anyone who sees Coney, Henderson or Jones to call the ACSO.

Four of Adams County’s sex offenders are incarcerated at various locations. One listed on the DPS Web site was never registered with Adams County and is there by mistake, Brown said.

Twenty-three sex offenders are registered in Concordia Parish, La., on the state police Web site,

http://www.lasocpr.lsp.org/Static/Search.htm

.

The federal government requires all sex offenders to be properly registered in accordance with the 1994 Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act.

Each state determines how it will notify the community of the sex offenders’ whereabouts. In Mississippi offenders are only required to register, their name and information, which goes on the Web site.

In Louisiana sex offenders are required to notify their neighbors in a one-mile radius of their status and where they live. They can send a card, knock on doors, run an ad in a local paper or place a sign in their yard.

Brown said he would like to see more enforcement of the registry on the local level, instead of at the state level.

&uot;I’d like to see it like it is in Louisiana,&uot; Brown said, referring to the requirement that offenders personally notify their neighbors.