Kenai Man Sentenced for Failing to Re-register as a Sex Offender

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A Kenai man was sentenced on Aug. 31, 2023, to 20 months in prison and seven years’ supervised release for not registering as a sex offender after moving to Alaska from Oregon.

According to court documents, Wayne Hinze, 65, was convicted of two counts of rape 1, six counts of sexual abuse 1 and three counts of attempted sodomy 1 in the state of Oregon in 1999. The defendant was sentenced to 14 and a half years in prison and five years’ probation. Hinze registered as a sex offender as part of his sentence and was advised that he must register in his new state of residence if he moved away from Oregon.

The defendant was released from prison in 2014 and was registered as a sex offender in Oregon at that time. In 2017, he absconded from parole and law enforcement could not locate him.

Hinze was located in Kenai, Alaska, and was arrested October 2022. Law enforcement learned he moved to the state in March 2018 and never registered or attempted to register as a sex offender in Alaska. The last time he registered as a sex offender was June 2017 in Oregon.

“Mr. Hinze’s manifest failure to register as a sex offender in the state of Alaska put our children at risk and will not be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work with the U.S. Marshals Service and local law enforcement to ensure communities are aware of sex offenders in their villages and neighborhoods. Maintaining this registry is paramount to keeping children safe.”

“The Sex Offender Task Force, which includes the U.S. Marshals Service, Anchorage Police Department, and the Alaska Wildlife Troopers, is committed to enhancing the protection of the public from unregistered sex offenders throughout the state of Alaska. Wayne Hinze posed a clear danger to the safety of community members who were unsuspecting of his prior convictions and actions. This is a case where the task force partnered with the Kenai Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to ensure the enforcement of the laws governing the Sex Offender Registry and the Adam Walsh Act,” said Rochelle Liedike, Deputy U.S. Marshal, District Sex Offender Investigations Coordinator for the U.S. Marshals Service.

The U.S. Marshals Service, with assistance from the Kenai Police Department, investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Ivers prosecuted the case.

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