Judge orders sex offender back to prison

SIOUX FALLS (AP) — A convicted sex offender whose release from prison in February prompted a public warning from South Dakota’s Corrections Department is being sent back behind bars for failing twice to register his address.

Ed Morris, 33, has been sentenced to serve four more years in prison.

Prosecutor Jim Iosty said the case illustrates the importance of the state’s registration requirements for sex offenders. Defense attorney Michelle Thomas said Morris didn’t deserve to be sent back to prison.

Morris pleaded guilty to trying to rape a Redfield woman in 2011. A rape charge involving a 4-year-old boy in Pennington County was dismissed.