CPD arrests sex offender for failure to register

The Missouri state registry was implemented in January 1995.

By Caitlin Jones

Published Oct. 27, 2009

A Columbia resident was arrested Thursday for failing to register as a sex offender.

According to a news release from the Boone County Sheriff's Department, in 1991, Mark Fuemmeler was convicted of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl. In 1998, 2001 and 2002 Fuemmeler was convicted for failure to register as a sex offender.

The news release stated Fuemmeler was a persistent offender.

The morning of Oct. 22, a Columbia Police Department officer spotted Fuemmeler, 45, near the intersection of Tenth and Ash streets. The officer detained him until deputies arrived, the news release stated. The arrest was made by officers for suspicion of felony failing to register as a sex offender.

Sheriff's Department Detective Tom O'Sullivan said the trial date has not been set.

"This will probably drag out for a least a few months," O'Sullivan said. "It won't be over in a week or two."

O'Sullivan said Fuemmeler is being held at Boone County Jail with bond set at $10,000.

"Looks like he will be sitting there a while," O'Sullivan said. "He could hire a bail bondsman but that would cost about $1,000. Bail bondsmen usually charge 10 percent of the bail."

O'Sullivan said it is a felony not to register as a sex offender and Fuemmeler is looking at serious prison time.

"Any kind of sex crime mandates that you register with Sheriff's Department," O'Sullivan said. "What we do is we send our information to the Highway Patrol and the Highway Patrol maintains a statewide registry and they send their information to the national registry. It all starts with the local Sheriff's Department though."

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol's sex offender registry Web site, the Missouri state registry was implemented in January of 1995. All 50 states have a registration and tracking system in place.

A Missouri requirement allows for the collection of DNA samples from registered sex offenders and stores this information in a DNA database. This collection is performed through the Highway Patrol Crime Lab, the Highway Patrol Web site stated.

The Highway Patrol's Web site also shows one in four women and one in six men will experience some kind of sexual assault in their lifetime. Sixty-seven percent of sexual assaults involve victims under the age of 18.

In May 2009, there were 124 registered sex offenders living in Columbia, the Web site for city data stated. The ratio of residents to convicted sex offenders was 812 to 1 in Columbia. The Web site also stated this ratio is near the state average.

The Web site provides a list of registered sex offenders in Columbia. The list states an offender's location, the crimes committed and a physical profile.

Fuemmeler was not present on the list.