The Island County Sheriff’s Office and the Oak Harbor Police are holding a joint community meeting at the city shop at 7 p.m. Monday to discuss to two high-risk sex offenders who may be living in the city.
Nathan Evans, 20, is getting out of prison and moving to NW Calista Court after serving a year and eight months for assault in the second degree with sexual motivation and two unrelated stolen property charges. He sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl who he lured into park in the Bellingham area in 2001.
John Isley, 28, is currently living at a E. Whidbey Avenue home, but he might be sent back to live in Snohomish County because of violations of court-ordered conditions of release, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Isley’s case is a complicated one. Chief Criminal Deputy Jan Smith said he showed up at the Sheriff’s Office to register as a sex offender Thursday because he had moved from Snohomish County to Oak Harbor, where he has a job. He was immediately arrested on a new warrant out of Snohomish County for failing to appear at a hearing on a drinking and driving charge.
Isley was back in Oak Harbor by Friday, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
Smith said the Department of Corrections may force Isley to move back to Snohomish County because he may have violated court orders by drinking and driving or moving without notifying his corrections officer.
Isley was classified as a low-risk sex offender while he was in Snohomish County, but Island County authorities have elevated his level to high risk because of his alleged probation violations, his extensive criminal history and recent homelessness, according to Smith.
Likewise, the state initially rated Evans as a level 2, or moderate risk, but the Island County Sheriff’s Sex Offender Classification Review Board did not agree. The members reclassified Evans as a high risk because of his history and record — seven felony and five gross misdemeanor convictions — but especially because he continues to deny that he sexually assaulted the girl.
People who commit sex offenses must register with the Sheriff’s Office in the county of their residence. The Department of Corrections rates the offenders on their perceived likelihood to reoffend. The rates range from a level 1, which is a low risk of reoffending, to level 3, a high risk to reoffend.
Because of the denial, Evans refused to participate in sexual offender treatment in prison.
Evans pleaded guilty to the sex and property crimes in Whatcom County Superior Court Sept. 20, 2001.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Evans had befriended a 12-year-old girl who was visiting a mutual friend’s Bellingham home. Within hours of meeting her, he took her for a walk in a park and started to make sexual advances towards her. The victim resisted his advances, but Evans undressed her and sexually assaulted her.
Evans will live with relatives in Oak Harbor. He will be under the supervision of the Department of Corrections, which is similar to parole, for three years. He is not allowed to have any contact with minors 16 years old or younger during this period.
Isley was convicted of indecent liberties in 1992 for assaulting a 13-year-old girl when he was 16 years old. He was sentenced to 65 weeks in a juvenile facility. After his release, he was convicted of four other felonies — an assault, two drug crimes and a theft — and 11 gross misdemeanors.
Island County Sheriff Mike Hawley and Oak Harbor Police Chief Steve Almon will be at the meeting Monday to discuss the sex offenders, safety precautions and the laws regarding sex offenders.
With Isley and Evans moving to the island, there will be a total of three level 3 sex offenders living in the county. The third high-risk offender is a homeless man.
There are currently six level 2, moderate-risk, sex offenders in the county. Two of them live on South Whidbey, two live in Central Whidbey and two reside on Camano Island. The rest, about 80 registered sex offenders, are considered low-risk.
You can reach News-Times reporter Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611.
