The U.S. Marshals Service teamed up with local law enforcement last week and arrested more than 340 fugitives in Arizona during a statewide operation to catch sex offenders and violent criminals.
Named Operation FALCON by the U.S. Marshall Service, the sting involved several local law enforcement agencies, including the University of Arizona Police Department.
The roundup came after a sex offender recently registered for classes this semester at the UA.
Haland Correa, 30, transferred from Pima Community College and does not live on campus, according to police reports.
Correa was convicted of abusive sexual conduct with a 10-year-old girl in 2002 in U.S. Federal Court.
Police have categorized Correa as a level-three sex offender, the highest level of sex offense. Offenders with a level-two designation or higher require public notification of the person’s whereabouts, according to Arizona laws.
Correa has completed his prison sentence and has notified officials of his enrollment at the UA, as required by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
But Correa is not alone. The UA currently has three registered sex offenders either attending school as students or working as employees, according to the UAPD Web site.
Another student is Reuben V. Naranjo, 43, a doctoral student in American Indian studies and a level-two offender. The Arizona Daily Wildcat is withholding the name of the third offender because his identity could not be verified.
There are about 11,000 sex offenders registered in Arizona, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s sex offender Web site.
Ten sex offenders have registered at an address within a three-mile radius of Park Avenue and Sixth Street, according to a search made through the sex offender registration Web site.
With registered sex offenders on campus, Lauren Ireland, a retailing and consumer sciences senior, said she feels only slightly uneasy knowing that sex offenders could be in her classes.
“”It definitely creeps me out a little bit to know there’s people like that on campus, but I don’t feel in any more danger than I would normally,”” she said.
The UA has several available resources for concerned students or victims of sexual assault, relationship violence and stalking.
The OASIS Program offers services ranging from counseling to self-defense classes, said Zack Nicolazzo, a violence prevention specialist at OASIS.
Nicolazzo stressed the need for awareness about issues of violence and sexual assault.
“”UA is a safe community,”” he said. “”However, even in safe communities, bad things happen. I would encourage people to learn about the available
resources, talk with your peers about these issues and find ways to become involved in ending violence.””
The U.S. Marshall Service has been doing operations similar to the roundup for three years, said Deputy U.S. Marshall Tom Twohey.
Operation FALCON’s efforts in Tucson resulted in more than 12 arrests of sex offenders and 140 arrests of fugitives, he added.
There were no arrests made on campus, said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, public information officer for UAPD.
Any information provided by the Arizona Sex Offender InfoCenter, https://az.gov/webapp/offender, is meant to protect community safety. Threatening, intimidating or harrassment of sex offenders is against the law.
Levels of Offense
According to the Arizona Department of Safety Web site, sex offender levels depend on the person’s likelihood of recidivism, or repeating the crime.
Level 1
Level one is the lowest. Level 1 offenders’ personal information is not provided to the public.
Level 2
Level two indicates an intermediate
risk of recidivism
Level 3
Level three indicates a high risk of recidivism
Offenders ranked as either level two or level three are listed online at az.gov/webapp/offender. Their names, addresses, ages, offenses committed, levels of risk and current photographs are on the searchable database.
