Cobb Man Gets 2 Years For Failing To Register As Sex Offender

WEST COBB, GA -- A Minnesota man who moved to Cobb County last year failed to register as a convicted sex offender, drawing a two-year prison sentence for the violation, federal officials announced Tuesday.

Frederick Laron Summerset's sentence is a result of violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, U. S. Attorney John Horn said. (To get notified of more local news like this, click here to sign up for the Kennesaw Patch. Or find your Atlanta-area town here. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

“The purpose of this Act is to prevent convicted sex offenders, like Summerset, from living or working around children," said Horn, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. "It also allows citizens to remain informed about sex offenders who might live near them.”

Cobb residents, like everybody, have a right to know when a sex offender moves in their vicinity. Summerset's egregious error trespassed against those rights, Beverly Harvard, U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Georgia, said in a news release.

“Many parents want to know when a sex offender moves into their area. When a convicted sex offender does not register their address, it denies the community their right to know," Harvard said. "Also it hinders law enforcement’s ability to ensure that the sex offender is not in violation of other provisions of the Sex Offender Act.”

Summerset, 34, of Hastings, Minnesota was convicted in November 2011 of committing a sex offense against a child, Horn said. When Summerset was convicted, it meant he had to register as a convicted sex offender, a lifelong status.

The offender left prison in Minnesota in August 2014, and he he registered as he was supposed to, but according to Horn, when Summerset moved to Georgia in January 2016, he admitted that he did not register with the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office. Summerset said that he didn't report his status to Cobb authorities because he suspected he still had a warrant for his arrest in Minnesota.

In addition to his two years in prison, Summerset must fulfill five years of supervised release.

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