Bristol, Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Knowingly Failing to Update His Sex Offender Registration

ABINGDON, VIRGINIA – A Bristol, Va. man who failed to update his sex offender registration, after resisting arrest and fleeing from police officers in August 2014,  pled guilty today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon.

Stevenson G. Harrison, Jr., 34, of Bristol, Va., pled guilty today to a one count indictment of failing to register and update his registration as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act [SORNA].  At sentencing, Harrison faces a maximum possible penalty of ten years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000.

Harrison admitted today that he was required to register under SORNA because of three 1996 convictions he received in Washington County, Virginia for aggravated sexual assault of a minor.  Harrison also admitted to failing to update his sex offender registration in August 2014 as required by SORNA.  At the guilty plea hearing, Special Assistant United States Attorney Kevin L. Jayne stated that had the government gone to trial, it would had been prepared to prove that in August 2014, Harrison resisted arrest and fled from Bristol, Virginia Police Department officers who attempted to serve Harrison with an arrest warrant.  Two officers were injured as a result of the struggle.  A manhunt ensued for Harrison, and he was arrested in November 2014 in Lakeland, Florida by the United States Marshals Service.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the United States Marshals Service, the Virginia State Police, and the Bristol, Virginia Police Department.  Special Assistant United States Attorney Kevin L. Jayne is prosecuting the case for the United States.