The Polk County Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigations Division, Special Response Team, and the Texas Department of Public Safety Special Crimes Unit executed both an arrest warrant and a search warrant Thursday at a residence in the Cedar Point area of Polk County.
Jessy Dewayne Rogers, 38, was taken into custody on charges of failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements, lifetime, a second-degree felony punishable by 2-20 years in prison. He was also charged with possession of child pornography depicting sexual assault of a child, a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years or life imprisonment without parole.
During the early morning operation, law enforcement officers approached the residence, awakened Rogers, and took him into custody without incident. DPS Special Crimes investigators subsequently conducted a search of the residence. Additional charges may be filed pending the processing and review of evidence collected during the investigation.
Rogers has been a registered sex offender since 2011 when he was found guilty of two counts of indecency with child by contact, the victim 14 years of age. Detective Jessica Stanton, who is responsible for overseeing sex offenders for the sheriff’s office, stated that the most recent sex offender convicted in Polk County for failing to comply with registration requirements received a 25-year prison sentence from District Judge John Wells following a jury trial where he was found guilty.
Polk County Sheriff Byron Lyons stated that we must protect our children, who deserve to be cared for both physically and mentally, and safeguarded from people who wish to do harm. He stated the sheriff’s office will continue working alongside its law enforcement partners to protect children and families throughout Polk County. He added that upon completion of the investigation, the cases will be forwarded to the Polk County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
