Charges Against Sex Offender Dropped In Ferndale

FERNDALE, MI — Felony charges against a convicted sex offender in Ferndale have been dismissed due to shifting laws on the sex offender registry. Clinton Township resident Joshua Owens, 26, was arraigned on two felonies in Ferndale’s 43rd District Court earlier this month for failing to give his correct address and vehicle information under the Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration law. On Monday, Oakland County prosecutors decided to drop those charges.

Owens was first convicted in Macomb County Circuit Court in 2006 when he was a minor for third-degree criminal sexual penetration with a person under 16, and second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13, The Daily Tribune reported.

According to the report, in 2016, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the state registration act violated constitutional protections in some of its requirements. That ruling overturned a U.S. District Court decision that upheld the state act in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan on behalf of several people who are on the sex offenders registry. The U.S. Supreme Court in October refused to hear the state’s appeal of the Court of Appeals decision and Michigan will have to make changes to its Sex Offender Registry Act.

Under current Michigan law, Owens has to update his sex offender information with authorities every four months or whenever there is a change of address. Sex offenders are also required to register any change in their auto and license plate within three days.

His lawyer told The Daily Tribune he didn't change his residence, but his angered girlfriend told police he had.

Read the full story at The Daily Tribune.

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