Corbally on sex offender registry

INDIANAPOLIS, IN.(WISH) - Convicted sex offender Shawn Corbally was released from the Marion County jail just days before the Greenwood attack, after prosecutors decided not to file charges against him.

But, by simply coming to Johnson and Marion Counties, Corbally also allegedly violated his parole.

So why didn't that keep him from being released?

I-Team 8 discovered the answer all comes down to timing.

Corbally has a lengthy criminal history that includes battery charges, an arrest for patronizing a prostitute, and two convictions for brutally violent rapes that led to a 30 year sentence in 2000.

But, with time off for good behavior, Corbally was released from prison after just 12 years and placed on the state's sex offender registry, labeled a "violent predator" with a lifetime notification requirement.

Following his release in February, Corbally moved to Clinton County, where the Sheriff’s Department says he was fully cooperative with the terms of his registration.

“With sexually violent registrants, we have a home visit every 90 days and he has to come see me every 90 days.

He was compliant with that,” said Clinton County Special Deputy and Sex Offender Registry Coordinator Jeff Cline.

Deputies had last visited Corbally in May, Cline said, and he wasn’t due for another home visit until the end of August.

Still, Corbally’s “violent predator” status came with some additional strict rules.

“A sexually violent predator needs to report to me within 72 hours,” Cline told I-Team 8’s Troy Kehoe. 

“If he's going to be gone, he needs to report to me that he's going to be gone those 72 hours.

That didn't happen. I wasn't aware he was gone in my county until he was arrested in Marion County.”

That arrest happened on July 21st.

The following day, Cline says he got an email from Marion County, informing him of Corbally’s "potential violation."

He says he began filing paperwork to issue a felony warrant for violation of Corbally’s sex offender registry.

But, he says there’s a catch in how quickly that violation can take effect.

“ I have to prove that he was gone from my county for 72 hours.

And, the same thing on the other end with Marion County.

They would have to prove that he was in their county for over 72 hours without reporting to them also.

That's something that can't happen just immediately, because you’ve got to get documentation and statements from somebody to prove he was gone from there for 72 hours,” Cline said.

The 72 hours Corbally spent in the Marion County Jail on a “hold” from his July 21 ^st arrest doesn't count toward that required time.

Because the documentation needed to issue the Class D Felony warrant for a sex offender registration violation wasn't ready, Corbally was released.

“The warrant would have to be issued out of Clinton County, come to the Sheriff's Department here, and then they serve it,” said Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry.

“Obviously, if he's locked up and they get a warrant, they put a hold on him immediately.

But, that didn't occurr.”

By late Wednesday, Corbally was listed as "non-compliant” on the state’s sex offender registry, after the warrant that would have kept him behind bars was finally issued by Clinton County on Wednesday afternoon.

Prosecutor Curry says his staff is still "discussing" whether a sex offender registry violation will be filed in Marion County as well.           

Marion County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Col. Louis Dezlan called the timing of the case “a perfect storm.”

“In this case, 24 hours could have made all the difference,” he said.

Dezlan says Marion County Sheriff John Layton plans to talk to lawmakers about adjusting the so-called "72 hour rule" during a study committee meeting on sentencing guidelines set for August 23.