Sex offender residing in Joplin waives hearing in registration case
Nov. 6—A 44-year-old man residing in Joplin waived a hearing this week on a charge that he violated the state's sex offender registration law earlier this year.
James L. Reffner waived a preliminary hearing Thursday in Jasper County Circuit Court on the charge of failure to register as a sex offender. Judge Joe Hensley set Reffner's initial appearance in a trial division on Dec. 13.
Court records show Reffner was charged with a felony count of child molestation in 2015 in Newton County but pleaded down to a misdemeanor count in the case involving a 13-year-old male victim. A Missouri law consequently requires that he register as a sex offender with the sheriff's office in the county in which he resides.
The law requires that sex offenders update their registration every 90 days. A probable-cause affidavit states that he failed to do so in April and that a sheriff's investigator checking on his registered address determined that he was in violation of the law in that regard as well by residing within 1,000 feet of North Middle School, according to the affidavit.
Jeff Lehr is a reporter for The Joplin Globe.
