Sex offender arrested for failure to update info

CNMI Probation Officers arrested in Dandan on Wednesday afternoon a sex offender who allegedly failed to update the Department of Public Safety Sex Offender Registry Section about his verification information.

Saipan Tribune learned that two probation officers found the 38-year-old Ivan Jones Castro in a jungle area and served him with an arrest warrant.

The $10,000 cash bail the court earlier imposed on Castro was retained during a bail hearing yesterday. Preliminary hearing will be on Nov. 25 at 9am.

Assistant public defender Tillman Clark was appointed as counsel for Castro. Assistant attorney general Shannon Folley appeared for the government.

According to police, officer Rhonda C. John and another detective did a follow-up investigation on Castro last Aug. 25 related to a theft incident in As Teo.

John said they checked Auto Marine and were told that Castro was no longer employed there. The two officers proceeded to the apartment of Castro’s niece on Capital Hill.

The niece disclosed that Castro slept at her apartment for three days and then left. The niece also stated that she lives with her two children.

Last Oct. 13, a police detective found Castro behind Eucon International School in Gualo Rai. Castro was then taken to the Commonwealth Bureau of Investigation.

That same day, John said that Castro admitted to forgetting to check in with DPS Sex Offender Registry Section to update his verification information.

Castro also stated that after he quit his job at Auto Marine, he stayed for one night with his niece, who has two children.

In May 2003, Castro pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree. He was sentenced to four years in prison.

In November 2005, the Board of Parole granted him parole and he was released from prison on Dec. 2, 2005. He registered as a sex offender in November 2006.

In March 2010, an arrest warrant was issued for Castro for not complying with the Sex Offender Registry requirements. He was arrested on April 3, 2015. After his release on July 2, 2015, he updated his verification form and listed Auto Marine as his employer.

Castro was one of four men who allegedly abducted a student in Kagman in June 2010 and then raped her at Tank Beach. One defendant pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The charges against Castro and two others were dropped after DNA test results were inconclusive.