Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announced today that Sunshine Marie McEwen (41, Atlantic Beach) has been indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with failing to register as a sex offender after traveling from Florida to California. If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in federal prison. McEwen was arrested in Palm Springs, California on November 28, 2015, and is currently in state custody in Jacksonville.
According to the indictment, on or about August 20, 1998, McEwen was convicted of two counts of lewd and lascivious act (sexual battery) in Jacksonville, Florida. Subsequent to her conviction, and between May 15, 2015, and November 28, 2015, she traveled from Florida to California and failed to register as a sex offender, as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act is part of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. The Adam Walsh Act provides for the use of federal law enforcement resources, including the United States Marshals Service, to assist state and local authorities in locating and apprehending non-compliant sex offenders. This case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Palm Springs (California) Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.
This another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.