The Grand Forks Police Department announced today two high-risk sex offenders are now in the city of Grand Forks.
Hilary Anton Edwards and Juan Ramon Hernandez are incarcerated at the Grand Forks County Correctional Center and are finishing their federal sentences while on work release.
Both Edwards and Hernandez are Level III sex offenders, meaning they are at a high risk to offend again.
Edwards, 46, has severals conviction for sex crimes in North Dakota and Minnesota. In Minnesota, he was convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in 1993 in Hubbard County and second-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2003 in Clay County.
In general, criminal sexual conduct in the first and second degrees in Minnesota includes crimes involving injury to a victim, the use or threat of force, or victims of a very young age, according to state criminal statutes. Conduct in the third, fourth and fifth degrees generally involves crimes that have young victims, less aggravated conduct or the victim was incapable of voluntarily consenting to the sexual conduct.
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In North Dakota, Edwards was convicted of possession of child pornography in 2007 in Cass County.
Hernandez, 45, also has a criminal record in both states. He was convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in 1997 in Clay County, Minn., and gross sexual imposition in 2001 in Walsh County, N.D. Hernandez also was convicted for failing to register as a sex offender in 2011.
Gross sexual imposition includes crimes involving young victims, use or threat of force, use of drugs or alcohol to impair a victim or victims without the mental capacity to understand the nature of the conduct, according to criminal statutes.
There are 115 sex offenders registered with the Grand Forks Police Department that either live, work or attend school in the city, according to a news release. Of those 115, there are eight assigned as high risk.
High-risk offenders are contacted at least once every three months to verify their status and must remain registered for the rest of their lives.
