At Risk from Sex Offenders in the Hudson Valley: 2 Accused of Repeat Behavior

Two men listed on New York's Registry of Sex Offenders after being released from prison for crimes against children were accused in March of committing new sex crimes.

David Ohnmacht, 36, and Isaac Esau Jara, 29, were convicted of different sex crimes, and they are classified at different levels in the New York Registry of Sex Offenders.

According to the NY Department of Justice:

• Level 1 = low risk of repeat offense
• Level 2 = moderate risk of repeat offense
• Level 3 = high risk of repeat offense
• Level P = offender is registered but risk of repeat offense has not yet been determined

"The observed sexual recidivism rates of sex offenders range from about 5 percent after 3 years to about 24 percent after 15 years," wrote Roger Przybylski in a U.S. Justice Department July 2015 research brief. "and there is universal agreement in the scientific community that the observed recidivism rates of sex offenders are underestimates of actual reoffending."

There are also three designations that may be assigned to a sex offender in New York: sexual predator, sexually violent offender, or predicate sex offender. These designations, along with risk level, govern the length of time that an offender must register. Click here for a chart of risk level and duration of registration.

Ohnmacht is classified Level 3 and designated a “sexually violent offender” by the state. Jara has no designation and is classified Level 2.

The state also makes public the number of sex offenders and how they're classified in each county.

Source: NY Division of Criminal Justice Services

The possibility that Ohnmacht would resume the predatory activities for which he had been convicted was a big concern for the Katonah community, into which he moved when he was released from prison in 2011.

The crimes for which he was previously convicted were rape and sodomy against teenage girls, ranging in age from 13 to 15. He met some of the teens through his jobs, which included birthday party DJ, children’s theater worker, ice cream truck driver and camp counselor. In addition to the rape and sodomy, other charges included possessing pictures of a sexual performance by a child. Law enforcement officials said they found more than 1,000 pornographic images on his computer.

Prosecutors alleged in March that Ohnmacht, then a Bedford Hills resident, persuaded a 14-year-old girl to “engage in sexually explicit activity, video it and transmit it via Instagram to him. Ohnmacht allegedly convinced the girl to send him sexually explicit videos of herself and threatened to release it to her friends if she did not send more.

Jara, an Ossining resident, had been designated a Level 2 sex offender in February. Convicted in 2014 of possessing and promoting an obscene sexual performance, after FBI and New York State Police investigations into his downloads of child pornography, Jara received 366 days in federal prison and five years of supervised release. He was released to federal probation on Nov. 17, 2015.

Jara again is accused of owning and sharing obscene images of children from infancy to prepubescence; his first upload to ChatStep was Dec. 19, 2016, prosecutors alleged in March.

Both are being held in jail.

For information about the state sex offender registry and where to get help if you are a victim of sexual abuse, go here.