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Convicted sex offender caught living at house with children – again

Posted at 4:53 AM, Mar 30, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-30 04:53:47-04

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police caught a convicted sex offender living in the same house as children who were previous victims of his sexual abuse, and according to charging documents, this isn't the first time it happened.

James Augusta Davis has a long history of run-ins with the law. Most notably, in 2014, police charged him with rape of a child and incest, according to WREG.

Davis pleaded guilty to the second charge and went to prison. But he did not stay his entire six-year sentence.

Records show he was busted last year for living at a home with children — a clear violation of sex offender laws.

Diane Spencer lives near the home where police said Davis was staying with a woman and her children, providing a fake address to authorities so they wouldn’t know.

Davis was busted again in March for the exact same thing.

“To me, he's sick," Spencer said. "He isn’t supposed to be around kids at all."

Beryl Wight works for the Child Advocacy Center, who said the community shares a responsibility to protect children.

“The long-term risks for kids who are abused range from increased risk for mental illness, suicide, increased risk for teen pregnancy, learning problems in school," Wight said.

Her organization works with law enforcement partners to investigate child sexual abuse.

In Davis’s case, it went through the courts, and then he was supposed to be wearing an ankle monitor.

WREG knocked at the door where Davis was caught, but no one answered.

According to arrest records, “Davis has been informed on several occasions that he is not allowed to live at that residence due to the nature of his previous sex offense.”

It’s still unclear why authorities let him continue getting away with it.