Sun Prairie Man Sentenced to 11⁄2 Years for Failing to Register as a Sex Offender

MADISON, WIS. - Chadwick M. Elgersma, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Tavares D. Jones, 50, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 1½ years in federal prison for violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. Jones pleaded guilty to this charge on August 25, 2026. His prison sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release.

In 1999, Jones committed a sex offense involving a minor in Chicago, Illinois. After serving his prison sentence, he moved to Wisconsin and failed to register as a sex offender for more than five years. For part of this time, he lived in a Sun Prairie residence that also violated the terms of his bond conditions in a pending state case. A minor lived in that home.

Explaining the sentence, Judge Conley said Jones's failure to register presented a "serious public safety concern." The judge further explained that Jones's desire to avoid the collateral consequences of registering as a sex offender did not excuse the crime.

The charge against Jones was the result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Stelljes prosecuted this case.

This investigation was a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.