Published: July 01, 2008 07:36 pm         

Sex offender stayed at London shelter

James W. Pennington, who had recently stayed at the homeless shelter and is being held in the Whitley County Detention Center, is wanted in Laurel County for failing to comply with sex offender registration laws.

London Police Sgt. Joe Smith obtained a warrant for Pennington, who according to Theresa Marinaro, manager of Christian Shelter for the Homeless in London, stayed at the shelter about two weeks ago.

“According to court records from Perry County, Pennington was convicted in 2002 for first-degree unlawful imprisonment,” Smith said. “This charge would require registration as a sex offender if the victim was under 18 years of age.”

Like all other potential residents, Marinaro said Pennington was required to go to the London Police Department to undergo a background check to determine if the person has any outstanding criminal warrants or is a convicted sex offender. In addition, Marinaro said she had checked for Pennington on the Kentucky State Police sex offender registry, http://kspsor.state.ky.us.

“That has been standard procedure since we opened the doors,” Marinaro said.

Pennington reportedly left the shelter and returned, but the facility did not have an open bed for him.

“Because we didn’t have space for him, we drove him to Whitley County where the homeless shelter there had space,” Marinaro said.