Convicted Sex Offender Charged with Living Illegally in St. Louis Park

A man who has been convicted four times of criminal sexual conduct with children has been charged with living in St. Louis Park without notifying authorities of his whereabouts, as required by law.

John Frank Lewey Jr., 62, is charged with failing to register as a predatory offender, a felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Lewey remains in the Hennepin County Jail on a $5,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled for March 28 in Hennepin County District Court.

According to the criminal complaint, compiled by Minneapolis Police Officer Troy Walker, police spoke to Lewey on Feb. 27 about his home address.

Lewey was convicted of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with children between the ages of 5 and 12 in Wright County three times in 1994 and once in 1998. Because of those convictions, he is required to register his address with the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) until 2020.

Last June, BCA officials sent Lewey a verification of address form to his last reported address, the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Minneapolis, but Lewey did not return the form, according to the complaint.

In late February, Minneapolis police contacted a security officer at the VA Medical Center, who told them that Lewey had been at the center for only one day in October and was discharged after that.

The security officer told police that Lewey had provided a forwarding address in the 3200 block of Colorado Avenue South in St. Louis Park when he left the facility.

On Feb. 27, Lewey appeared at the Minneapolis police station and told officers that he had become homeless after leaving the VA Medical Center and lived briefly at a Minneapolis shelter before moving to St. Louis Park.