Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Violating the Federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Cory Alan Kinsel, also known as "Cory Alan Hatcher," 38, pleaded guilty today to failing to register and update his registration as a sex offender as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) after relocating from West Virginia to Ohio and obtaining employment in Kentucky.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on February 2, 2025, a law enforcement officer conducting a compliance check on Kinsel determined that Kinsel had left his registered address, a Charleston men's shelter, without updating his registration. The resulting investigation revealed that Kinsel was living in South Point, Ohio, and working at a restaurant in Ashland, Kentucky, where he was arrested on October 8, 2025.

Kinsel knew he was required to register as a sex offender and maintain that registration as a result of his conviction for third-degree sexual assault of as 13-year-old girl in Hancock County Circuit Court in 2007.

Kinsel is scheduled to be sentenced on November 9, 2026, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. United States Attorney Moore Capito made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the West Virginia State Police and the United States Marshals Service (USMS).

United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan T. Storage is prosecuting the case.

SORNA is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 and provides a comprehensive set of minimum standards for sex offender registration and notification in the United States. SORNA seeks to strengthen the nationwide network of sex offender registration and notification programs, in part by requiring registered sex offenders to register and keep their registration current in each jurisdiction in which they reside, work, or go to school.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACERLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. by searching for Case No. 2:25-cr-179.

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