A Mitchell man pleaded guilty to failing to re-register as a sex offender, marking the seventh time he has been convicted of that crime.
Franklin Vermillion, 43, pleaded guilty on Nov. 24 to failing to re-register as a sex offender. The crime is usually a Class 6 felony but due to Vermillion’s status as a habitual offender, the count rises to a Class 5 felony, carrying a maximum penalty of up to five years imprisonment and $10,000 in fines.
South Dakota state law requires those who have been convicted of a sex crime to register in person as a sex offender. After the initial registration, those individuals must re-register every six months during the calendar, during the month of their birthday and the month that is six months opposite their birthday. Vermillion, born in November, failed to re-register in May of this year. He has since done so with the Mitchell Police Division.
Most recently, he has been convicted for the failure to re-register offense in 2013, 2015 and in June 2019. Judge Chris Giles noted that those convictions have occurred in front of three different First Circuit Court judges.
Vermillion is on the state's registry due to a second-degree rape conviction from 1998 in Campbell County.
ADVERTISEMENT
Giles ordered a pre-sentence investigation, in part he said to figure out why Vermillion has the continued issue of failing to maintain registration.
Vermillion, who has received a personal recognizance bond from the court, will be sentenced on Jan. 19, 2021.
