A sex offender arrested at a Tony Alamo Christian Ministries property in Fort Smith earlier this year is scheduled to change his not-guilty plea to a federal charge of failing to register as a sex offender next month in U.S. District Court in Fort Smith.
Jonathan Patrick Curry was released from a Nevada prison in November 2007 after serving more than five years on a conviction for attempted lewdness with a child younger than 14, which required him to register as a sex offender for life, according to an affidavit filed in the case against Curry.
An arrest warrant was issued for Curry in Nevada in June 2008 after it was determined that he failed to register as a sex offender after being released from prison.
In late November, an FBI agent located Curry at a property owned by Alamo Ministries, where Curry told the agent he resided, and the agent saw a sign on a room that said, "Keep out of John Curry’s Rm," according to the affidavit.
Although the address of the property was redacted from the affidavit, federal officials have confirmed it was an Alamo property.
Curry was scheduled to go to trial Wednesday, but the trial was canceled and a change of plea hearing was scheduled for May 13.
Less than a week before trial, U.S. District Judge Robert T. Dawson denied a defense motion to dismiss the indictment against Curry.
