Sheriff warns of homeless sex offender

A Level 2 sex offender with a lengthy criminal history will be living homeless in the Oak Harbor area.

Island County Sheriff Mark Brown is holding a public meeting to talk about the transient and the laws regarding sex offenders at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 19, at the Oak Harbor Fire Station meeting room, 855 E. Whidbey Ave.

Ace Harris, formerly a Camano Island resident, was convicted in 2002 of child rape in the third degree for having sex with a 14-year-old girl. He was subsequently convicted in 2006 for failing to register as a sex offender.

The Sheriff’s Office is also holding a meeting on Camano Island because officials feel it’s likely he’ll show up there.

Harris was classified as a Level 2 sex offender, which means he’s considered a moderate risk to reoffend, partly because he refused to participate in a court-ordered treatment program for sex offenders.

Since Harris is homeless; he must check in with the Sheriff’s Office on a weekly basis.

Harris has used several different names, including Joel Harris, Joshua Harris, Ace Skullstad and Ace Strand.

In 2007, Harris was convicted of vehicular assault and attempting to pursue a police vehicle. He led deputies on a high-speed chase across

South Whidbey that ended when a Coupeville deputy deployed a spike strip across Highway 525 at Houston Road. The car veered off the highway, rolled and came to rest against a tree. His passenger suffered a skull fracture and was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Harris told a trooper that he drank beer, injected methamphetamines and smoked marijuana earlier in the day, court documents state.

Contact Whidbey News Times Assistant editor Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360.675.6611 ext. 5056.

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