FM man wanted on offender registry violation

BY PCC STAFF

FORT MADISON - A Fort Madison man is current being sought by law enforcement for failure to comply with state sex offender registry rules.

According to Lee County Sheriff Stacy Weber, Lance Sanford is wanted for failure to comply and is on the Iowa Sex Offender's Registry website under "Most Wanted".

SANFORD

"We would like to take him into custody," Weber said in a statement released Monday. According to the registry, Sanford's whereabouts are unconfirmed. He is 5'7" tall, and weighs approximately 145 pounds. He is 39 years old with brown hair and blue eyes.

Weber's statement outlined a coordinated effort led by the Lee County Sheriff's Office where local law enforcement canvassed county residents listed on the Iowa Sex Offender Registry to check on compliance.

Contact was attempted to be made with all those registered; the results of these checks were - 57 total checks, eight investigations started to assure compliance, two were found to be non-compliant, 43 compliant, three were incarcerated (already in jail) during the compliance sweep. Of the 57, Sanford is the only one that law enforcement couldn't locate.

Weber said the project was conducted with the assistance of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations SOR Unit, Deputies and Detectives of the Sheriff's Office, Reserve Deputies, Iowa Department of Corrections High Risk Unit, Fort Madison Police Department, Keokuk Police Department, US Marshal's Service, and the Polk County Sheriff Marshal's Task Force.

Continued efforts to maintain a higher level of scrutiny of these persons is done through collaborative efforts of all agencies and jurisdictions these people reside in.

Other charges are pending on the investigations started due to this compliance check. Most of these will be sent to the Lee County Attorney's Office and Asst. Lee County Attorney Bruce C. McDonald for his recommendation for charges.