Sex Offender Turns Himself in To Newport Police for Failing to Register Address Change

NEWPORT, RI—A city man wanted for failing to register an address change as a sex offender has been arrested after turning himself in to police on Tuesday.

Police said Jason Allan Abdullah, 30, of 15 Meeting St., told police that he was sorry for lying to police when he told them that he was staying at the Meeting Street shelter but was in fact sleeping at a relative’s apartment where young children live.

Police said Abdullah was in the habit of signing into the shelter and then leaving to stay at the relative’s apartment.

Police were alerted to Abdullah’s actions after they responded to a fire in an apartment at Bayside Village Apartments earlier this month.

Abdullah, who was in his pajamas at the fire scene, told police that he was just there doing laundry.

Abdullah, who was convicted in 2005 of first degree child molestation, reportedly notified police on Dec. 15 that he was staying at the Meeting Street shelter. But police reported not being able to confirm his whereabouts for the entire month of December or January until the Jan. 19 fire incident.

Abdullah turned himself in to police on Wednesday morning telling officers that he knew he was supposed to register his address as required by the state’s sex offender conviction laws. Though he initially stuck to his story that he was only stopping by the Bayside Village apartment on occasion, he eventually admitted that he had been staying there regularly and not at the shelter once confronted with evidence that conflicted with his story.

Abdullah insisted that he just wanted to spend time with family members and his sex offender status made it very difficult for his family to secure housing, which is why he registered his address at the shelter. He lamented that he could spend time in prison for the charge, telling police that he served two years the last time he was charged with failing to register an address change.

Abdullah was charged with failing to register as a sex offender and was arraigned in Second Division District Court. Bail was set at $5,000 with surety.

Abdullah is currently being held at the Adult Correctional Institutions and is due to appear in court on March 3.

Failing to register an address change as a sex offender is a felony in Rhode Island.