They will be arrested for failing to properly register and two will be arrested for having Facebook accounts, Chief Deputy Bruce Temple of the Halifax County Sheriff's Office said.

Names of those charged will be released upon the issuance of warrants, he said.

Temple, left, and Clark confer.

The checks begin

That the checks began Tuesday evening and ended on the eve of Thanksgiving was not by happenstance, Temple said. “Kids are out of school on break. That's not to say they're suspected of doing anything dealing with a child.”

It's to confirm they haven't moved, haven't got a new tattoo or even changed their facial hair, Temple said. “We look at their photos in the files and get them up to date.”

(To search the registry, follow this link)

Travis Clark, a deputy within the civil division of the sheriff's office is responsible for maintaining these files. Of the 120 sex offenders in the county, there are some who remain on the registry for life. Some come off in 10 years and during the rounds Tuesday and this morning, there were those expected to be off in times shorter than 10 years, Clark said.

Temple reminds the deputies assigned to do the checks to look for Facebook and other social media accounts either on computers or phones. “Document if children are in the house and their employment.”

Said Clark: “You've got to list every vehicle they own. No social media.”

Temple checks a file under the red glow of the dome light.

Sex offender 1

In Scotland Neck, one of the sex offenders agrees to talk. Like the three interviewed throughout the operation, he declines to give his name.

“They accused me of molesting a child,” he says. “I didn't.”

Asked why he was being checked in the middle of the night if he didn't do anything, he says, “Because I took a plea.”

He says he has another three to five years on the registry. He says being a registered sex offender has changed the people he associates with. “I now just stay at home with my mother.”

At the end of the check, deputies learn his ID did match the residence where he was found.

Sex offender 2

“It's a hell of a loss of freedom,” says a sex offender in Roanoke Rapids. “There's a lot of things. You can't go to certain places. You can't do certain things. You get woken up at one in the morning.”

The man, who was charged with indecent liberties, says he was put on the registry for 10 years and will soon be off. “I'd just like to have my freedom back to do what I used to do.”

Sex offender 3

Another Roanoke Rapids sex offender's time is about up, too. “I'm halfway there.”

Getting arrested was the best thing that happened to him. “It was relatively stopping the madness and being given a second chance. It was really a mixed blessing.”

He says he spends his time reading, mainly Time and other current events magazines. “Poetry, that's a dream of mine, getting published.”

Deputies walk up to an offender's residence in Scotland Neck.

The goal of checks

Temple said he believes the checks work for all involved.

“Most offenders typically cooperate with us,” he said. “I think they're probably glad they're not in prison. They know we have a job to do.”

Checks like these also help protect the public. “I think that it does protect the public simply because folks living in neighborhoods need to know. They can't be within 1,000 feet of a school or daycare. The presence of the officers helps the offender realize he's being monitored and acts as a deterrent in itself.”