Former Woonsocket Man Receives 5 Years For Not Registering as Sex Offender

Christian J. Morales, 30, formerly of Pawtucket and Woonsocket, R.I., and Blackstone, Mass., was sentenced today to 5 years and four months in federal prison for failing to register as a sex offender for a third time, according to United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and United States Marshall Jamie A. Hainsworth. 

The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith.

Morales, convicted in Rhode Island state court in December 2006 on two counts of child molestation, has a lifetime duty to register as a sex offender under the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

SORNA provides a comprehensive set of federal standards for sex offender registration and notification in the United States through the nationwide network of sex offender registration and notification programs. Additionally, SORNA requires registered sex offenders to register and keep their registration current in each jurisdiction in which they reside, work, or go to school, and to make periodic in-person appearances to verify and update their registration information.

According to information presented to the court, Morales was arrested and charged in November 2008 and in June 2010 with failing to register as a sex offender after changing addresses in Woonsocket and Pawtucket.

Morales was arrested for failing to register as a sex offender for the third time on July 1, 2010, after Woonsocket Police became aware that Morales was no longer living at a Woonsocket address where he was registered. 

Morales was located in a Blackstone, Mass., apartment where he was living with his girlfriend and her 4-year-old child, and was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshals Service, R.I. State Police, Woonsocket Police and MA State Police

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Rogers.