Felon Dodges Sex Offender Status

BROOKSVILLE - In 2002, three children, ages 4, 5 and 7, told Pasco County deputies that Thomas Wolverton touched them inappropriately.

Each said that Wolverton's probing "hurt a lot."

Wolverton, 24, was arrested on three counts of capital sexual battery and one charge of lewd and lascivious molestation. He pleaded no contest, was adjudicated guilty and sentenced to six years in prison, followed by nine years sex offender probation.

However, as part of a plea agreement, he was not designated a sex offender.

Fast forward four years to Wolverton's release from prison. On May 6, 2008, Wolverton moved to Hernando County and gave his probation officer the address of 16142 Sarasota St., a half mile north of Chocachatti Elementary School on California Street.

The victims' mother saw Wolverton this week in the parking lot of a Hernando County business. Alarmed that he was out of prison, she contacted the sheriff's office. Investigators there shared her surprise.

On Wednesday, Wolverton was arrested on a charge of failure to register as a felon, as required by law. But the fact he wasn't in the state's sex offender database had Sheriff Richard Nugent up in arms.

Nugent twice used the word "furious" to describe his feelings in a brief phone interview Thursday that ended with a "flabbergasted" for good measure.

"I have no sympathy for individuals like this," he said. The victims "were just babies."

Had Wolverton moved to the county as a sex offender, neighbors would have been notified and Wolverton would be subject to the same periodic checks as others with that classification.

But he wasn't, and as a result the "community was put at risk," Nugent said.

Ron Stuart, spokesman for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, explained Thursday that the lack of a sex offender designation was part of a plea deal worked out. A motion was filed Thursday by prosecutor Mike Halkitis to reverse that guarantee and a hearing on the matter was scheduled for today.

"Apparently they're having second thoughts," Stuart said.

A message left for Halkitis was not returned by press deadline Thursday.

There are nine sex offenders living within a mile radius of the elementary school, 10 if you include the one in the nearby jail. As a resident of the nearby neighborhood and a mother, Darlene Moenius kept close tabs on their whereabouts via the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Web site.

But her searches didn't turn up her neighbor, Wolverton. She was shocked when a reporter revealed Wolverton's past record.

"That's not right for us not to know," she said.

A woman on the front porch of Wolverton's listed address told a reporter she had nothing to say. A reporter's business card was left behind, but Wolverton did not call.