SYRACUSE, NY (CNY Central) — Court documents from 2013 revealed that Ryan Pontello, 33, of Clay, N.Y., was arrested for sex crimes against a 5-year-old girl in Oswego County. Those crimes were committed in 2011.
Recently, on June 10, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office announced that Pontello was arrested and charged one day earlier after he lured a girl off a playground and into a wooded area with candy and committed sex crimes against her, too. She was also 5-years-old. For that crime, Pontello was charged with rape, sex abuse, luring a child and endangering the welfare of a child.
Pontello committed this alleged crime as a registered sex offender stemming from the 2011 incident. However, due to a plea deal, he was only registered as a Level 1 offender. That’s the lowest level of three. Level 1 sex offenders are deemed the least likely to reoffend. Unlike Level 2 and 3 sex offenders, Level 1 sex offenders have most of their information inaccessible to the public.
The I-Team has made attempts to acquire Pontello’s 2013 court proceedings since the Sheriff’s Office announced his arrest on June 10 unsuccessfully.
Legal Expert Matthew Winchell of Tully Rinckey, PLLC told the I-Team that he’s familiar with the 30-year-old “Risk Factor Assessment” tool that’s used to assign offenders to a Level 1, 2 or 3 sex offender status. He referred to Pontello’s case as “pretty crazy” and said it was “out-of-character for someone who is a Level 1.”
Still, Winchell did not state that if he thought the Risk Factor Assessment system was out of date or not.
“You know, there’s nothing in this list to my knowledge of computer crimes,” Winchell told the I-Team. “So, you know they could add ‘did you use a computer for the crime?’ You know, that would make sense, I think.”
New York State Records show that Onondaga County is home to more than 1,100 sex offenders. Nearly 40% of them, or two out of five, are registered as Level 1. Across New York State, one in three offenders is considered a Level 1.
Yet, Level 1 offenders are nearly impossible to identify. Their names and photos are not public. To learn if someone is a Level 1 offender, you’ll need some combination of their name, current address, birthdate or social security number.
