This week’s sweep by the West Virginia State Police, working in cooperation with local law enforcement and the U.S. Marshal Service, led to the arrest of four individuals for failing to comply with requirements of the Sex Offender Registration Act. 

Beginning Monday morning, West Virginia State Police Officers from the Ripley Detachment, working in conjunction with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, Ripley and Ravenswood Police Departments, and the U.S. Marshal Service, conducted a verification check of all registered sex offenders in Jackson County to verify their compliance with WV Sex Offender Registry requirements.

During the sweep, four individuals were arrested for failing to update their sex offender registration status as required by the registration act. 

Edwin R. Hodge, 42, of Cottageville was arrested on two counts of failure to update.  According to the State Police, this was Hodge’s second arrest for failing to comply with registry requirements.  He is currently incarcerated at South Central Regional Jail in lieu of $25,000 bond.

Juanita Jo Cooper, 53, of Ravenswood was arrested on two counts of failure to update.  She was released on $2,000 bond.

Michael Justin Simpson, 37, of Murraysville was arrested on three counts of failure to update.  He is currently incarcerated in lieu of $75,000 bond.  Simpson’s bond was set higher due to a prior history of parole violations from out of state. 

David Albert Harless, 42, of Ripley was arrested on one count of failure to update.  He is currently incarcerated in lieu of $10,000 bond. 

According to Sgt. S.E. Wolfe of the WVSP Ripley Detachment, further warrants may be issued related to other violations during the sweep. 

Wolfe did note a silver lining found in the sweep was that of the nearly 80 sex offenders registered in Jackson County, only these four were found to be in violation of registration requirements. 
He gave credit to the state police officers for working with those registered to make sure the registry is maintained and continually updated. 

For more information on the WVSP Sex Offender Registry, visit www.wvstatepolice.com/sexoff/.