Three West Hawaii sex offenders arrested – West Hawaii Today

Three convicted sex offenders were arrested on Hawaii Island last week for allegedly failing to comply with sex offender registry requirements.

Multiple law-enforcement agencies conducted checks in Kona on registered sex offenders who had been identified as potentially out of compliance with the state’s Sex Offender Registry laws, according the Department of the Attorney General.

As a result of the three-day operation, several individuals were brought back into compliance, and three West Hawaii men were arrested for allegedly failing to comply with the requirements.

The three men who were arrested are Joseph Debus, 56, of Kailua-Kona, Garth Coleman, 53, of Holualoa and Alexsandr Skelcey, 34, of Kailua-Kona.

Debus was convicted of second-degree sex assault in Hawaii in 1993 and sentenced to five years probation with a year in jail. Coleman was sentenced to 20 years in prison for first-degree assault in 2000 after a jury trial in Hawaii. And Skelcey was convicted in Michigan in 2012 of assault with intent to commit sex assault.

“Sex offender registration requirements exist to protect our communities and ensure law enforcement knows where convicted offenders are living,” Tom Alipio, chief of the AG department’s Investigations Division, said in a press release. “Compliance operations like this send a clear message that we will actively monitor the registry, investigate violations and work closely with our law enforcement partners to hold offenders accountable when they fail to meet their legal obligations.”

HPD Chief Reed Mahuna said, “Operations like this allow us to verify that offenders are maintaining strict compliance with registration laws and those who aren’t will be addressed immediately. We will continue to leverage these multi-agency partnerships to keep our island communities safe,”

Members of the public can look up publicly available offender information and subscribe to notifications at sexoffenders.ehawaii.gov/coveredoffender/.

Anyone with information regarding a registered sex offender who may be violating registration requirements is encouraged to contact the Department of the Attorney General’s Investigation Division at (808) 586-1240 or their local law enforcement.