Convicted Georgia Sex Offender Sentenced For Failing To Register As A Sex Offender

Jacksonville, Florida – United States District Judge Marcia Morales Howard has sentenced Rodney Joel Neal (53, Montezuma, Georgia) to two years in federal prison for failing to register as sex offender after traveling to Jacksonville from Georgia.  He was also sentenced to a seven-year term of supervision and ordered to register as a sex offender following his release. Neal has been in custody since his arrest in Jacksonville, on October 10, 2014.   

According to court documents, on or about May 24, 1988, Neal was found guilty and sentenced for committing two criminal offenses, aggravated child molestation and child molestation, in Macon County, Georgia. Subsequent to his conviction and release from prison, Neal traveled from Georgia to Jacksonville in July 2014 and failed to register in Florida as a sex offender as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.  

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. The Adam Walsh Act provides for the use of federal law enforcement resources, including the United States Marshals Service, to assist state and local authorities in locating and apprehending non-compliant sex offenders.  This case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the United States Marshals Service, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.