(Sumter County, FL) Friday, September 20, 2024, 60-year-old Robert Allen Gerber was found guilty by a jury of Failing to Comply with Sex Offender Reporting Requirements. Gerber, a registered Sexual Offender, failed to re-register as part of his sexual offender registration requirements of Florida Statute 943.0435.
“When a sex offender fails to comply with registration requirements, it poses a significant risk to public safety,” said Bill Gladson, Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney. “These laws are in place to ensure law enforcement can track and monitor offenders to prevent repeat crimes. Compliance is crucial to provide an additional layer of protection for our community.”
In April of this year, Detective Smith with the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office received an alert through the Florida Sexual Offender and Predator Database from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that an offender had missed their reregistration. That offender was identified as the defendant.
Gerber, who had originally moved down to the great state of Florida from New Jersey, was currently on probation under the Florida Department of Corrections supervision in an Interstate Compact agreement from New Jersey. He had been placed on felony probation and required to register as a Sexual Offender due to his 2023 conviction for Possession of Child Sexual Assault Material.
Gerber initially registered per the requirements when he first moved to Florida. He was instructed he would be required to register twice a year – once during his birth month of September and 6 months after that in March. He registered in March and was reminded and given formal paperwork to come back in September to reregister. Gerber failed to meet this requirement.
During Detective Smith’s investigation, she was unable to locate any documentation or incarceration reports prohibiting Gerber from complying with his statutory requirements to register.
Gerber was sentenced to 30 months in the Florida Department of Corrections. After finishing his sentence, he will be transported back to New Jersey to face additional charges for his probation violation.
This case was successfully prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Shelby Senn and Sonny McCathran.
Published on 09/23/2024.