YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A federal judge in Newark today convicted a New York sex offender of failing to register when he moved to Teaneck in September 2013.
Richard Joseph, 42, used the aliases “Richard Beltre,” “Joseph Richards” and “Aaron Joseph,” among others, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said.
U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton convicted Joseph following a bench trial of one count of failing to register or update a registration as required by law.
The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”) requires that all sex offenders who travel in interstate or foreign commerce register as a sex offender and keep that registration current in each jurisdiction where they live.
Joseph was required to register as a Tier III sex offender following a 2002 conviction in New York for rape, Fishman said.
He first registered as a sex offender in New York using the alias “Richard J. Beltre” in 2006, then failed to report to his parole officer there after being released from the custody of the N.Y. State Department Correctional Services in 2013, the U.S. attorney said.
He was eventually arrested on Oct. 11, 2013, having lived in Teaneck since Sept. 7, 2013 without registering, he said.
Fishman credited the U.S. Marshals Service its New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force with the investigation leading to today’s conviction, secured by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sara F. Merin and Jane H. Yoon of Fishman’s Criminal Division in Newark.
Sentencing was set for Oct. 29.
