South Georgia Times

There were 12 registered sex offenders living in Echols County as of the week ending Sept. 21, according to the Georgia Sex Offenders Registry.

The Registry shows that one of these sex offenders is a sexual predator. In Georgia, a sexual predator is an individual who is determined by the Sexual Offender Registration Review Board to be at risk of perpetrating any future dangerous sexual offense.

The Registry also shows that one of these sex offenders is currently incarcerated.

Sex offenders in Georgia remain on the Sexual Offender Registry for life unless removed by a court order or other legal means. Any individual who fails to register when required “shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than 30 years,” according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

If a sex offender moves to another county in the state of Georgia or another state in the US, they are required to register with the Sheriff in their new county or state of residence.

SafeHome.org, a security think tank, found the number of sex offenders in the US increases by roughly 32,000 a year.

Offender	Status	Crime
Andres Benjamin Gonzalez	Not Incarcerated	Statutory rape
Austin Lee Herndon	Not Incarcerated	Criminal attempt to commit child molestation
Bennie Fender	Not Incarcerated	Cruelty to children
Christopher Blanton	Not Incarcerated	Statutory rape
John M. Kuljanich	Not Incarcerated	Aggravated child molestation
Matthew Franklin Carter	Not Incarcerated	Traveling to meet a minor to commit an unlawful sexual offense
Michael Wayne Miller	Not Incarcerated	Aggravated sexual assault
Ronnie Earl Colbert	Not Incarcerated	Sexual battery upon a child under 16 years of age
Santos Gallegos	Not Incarcerated	Enticing a child for indecent purposes
Wallace Newton Gaskins III	Incarcerated	Obscene internet contact - obscene communication
Waver Henry Padgett	Not Incarcerated	Child molestation
Willie Henry Richardson	Not Incarcerated	Aggravated child molestation