A local sex offender initially categorized as a high risk has been downgraded to a level one, the lowest designation in the three-point scale.

Devin Jeffrey Ness, now 19, engaged an 11-year-old female in an inappropriate relationship when he was 17. Although he has completed his probation related to the sex crime, additional convictions have extended his supervision.

New Island County Sheriff Mark Brown held his first sex offender public meeting last week at the Taylor Road Fire Station. Following the lead of his predecessor, Mike Hawley, Brown said he exercised his discretion when judging the level of risk Ness presented to the community. Without a residence, the initial classification was overstated.

“Since the time of the public notification, he has gained a permanent residence in Oak Harbor,” Brown told the approximately 15 concerned citizens and their children. “It is my understanding that he’s going to get a job. So, I have opted to drop him back to a one, because I can track him, I can monitor him, and that’s my prerogative. If he had remained homeless, where I couldn’t go by and check on his status, then I would have kept him at a higher level. That was one of the reasons for the meeting tonight.”

Another sex offender, Steven Joseph Burt, 27, has been deemed a moderate risk, the status due largely to instability.

“Mr. Burt was upped by the sheriff to a level two from a level one because he’s had some stability issues in maintaining a residence and employment,” said Detective Sue Quandt. “We wanted the community to be aware that he’s out there so that if he decides to take off or can’t maintain his environment, we might get feedback from the community that he’s not doing what he’s supposed to be doing or he’s not where he’s supposed to be.”

Burt was convicted of third degree child rape when he was 15 years old. Like Ness, he has not been convicted of any other sexual offenses since the initial transgression. He has, however, racked up several felonies, which keeps him under watch.

Sexual offenders are required to register with the sheriff’s office in the county they plan to reside 14 days before being released from prison.

“We get that notification and we start the wheels in motion as to notification of what we need to do,” Brown said. “The higher the level, the more risk factor involved. They have to register and then they’re monitored for a period of sometimes 10 years, sometimes it’s for life, depending on the degree of the offense they’ve committed.”

Quandt is already spread thin. Brown said he will help the detective check up on sex offenders residing in Island County. The county currently has 88 offenders, 75 of whom are low risk level ones. Fifty reside in Oak Harbor and five reside in Coupeville.

“We’re about average in our state for the numbers that we have,” the sheriff said. “And by far the majority of what we have are level one.”

Ness and Burt may not be considered pillars of the community, but they have served their time and have rights. Brown said neither offender is a likely candidate for recidivism.

“Although these aren’t perfect individuals, it does appear that they’re not likely to have a similar occurrence at the sex offense level,” he said. “And that’s what I’m hoping. I’m hoping to reintegrate them back into our society. Because you know it’s a fact, folks, when people go to prison, when they go to jail, they come back out in the community and live where they were from. We have to face the fact that these are people around us.”