Convicted Sex Offender Facing New Charges In Vernon

VERNON, CT — A man with multiple sexual assault convictions and a lifetime spot on the Connectcut Sex Offender Registry is accused of inappropriately touching a child in a new set of charges filed in Vernon, a warrant states.

Jeremy Atkins, 42, who is currently being held at the Hartford Correctional Center, was arrested on the Vernon charges Wednesday, police said. He was charged with illegal sexual contact with a victim younger that 16 and fourth-degree sexual assault, according to an arrest report.

According to a warrant, the Vernon case dates back to Aug. 2, when investigators in Newington alerted Vernon detectives about a potential sexual assault involving Atkins, who is listed as 6-foot-7 and 210 pounds with a last known address in East Hartford on the Connecticut Sex Offender Registry.

The victim in the Vernon case, a 9-year-old boy, told an adult, who then passed it on to investigators, that Atkins touched him in the genital area while at the family's home in July, according to a warrant. Atkins met the family through another friend, according case records.

Atkins has an extensive criminal record, according to a warrant and judicial system statistics:

• Atkins was convicted on 1996 of burglary, trespass, risk of injury to a minor and reckless endangerment
• A year later, he was sentenced to a year in prison in a threatening conviction
• In 2003, he had a second threatening conviction
• In 2006, he was arrested and later convicted of first-degree sexual assault against a minor and sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison with 15 years of special parole and a lifetime spot on the sex offender registry
• In 2008, another seven years were added to his sentence for risk of injury to a minor and illegal sexual contact
• He was on parole, but violated it in August on a "technical" matter and was placed in Hartford Correctional Center
• He was assigned sex offender treatment

According to a warrant, Atkins at first described the touching as "horseplay" and but later clarified it to being over the boy's pants in the genital area.

He also told police he did not recall any inappropriate touching, according to a warrant.