Cops: Sex offender was living illegally in Mattituck

A registered sex offender was arraigned Tuesday on charges related to his failure to change his address when he moved into a house on Route 48 in Mattituck, Southold Town Police said.

James Reid, 32, was living in the house for about three months between December and March, despite not changing his address with the state, police said. Authorities finally caught up to him when he moved to Hampton Bays last month.

Southold Police said Mr. Reid, who was charged with six felony counts of failure to register, was also caught using unregistered email addresses and social networking sites, including Facebook, violations of his release conditions.

Mr. Reid was convicted in July 2009 for the rape of a 16-year-old female and sentenced to six months in prison, according to the New York State Sex Offender Registry. He was serving 10 years probation prior to his recent arrest and is required to change his registered address within 10 days of moving.

A level 1 registered sex offender — the designation assigned to those least likely to repeat as offenders — Mr Reid was previously convicted of failure to register in 2010.

A judge set bail at $15,000 Tuesday. He’s due back in court May 8.