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The Chisago County Sheriff's Department along with the Minnesota Department of Corrections held an informative meeting Feb. 2. The meeting was to notify Center City area residents of a level three sex offender that now resides north of town.

Ronald Rudolph Ernst, 66, moved to the 33000 block of Oasis Road end of January. Ernst has a long history of criminal sexual offenses.

Patricia Moen from the DOC gave a brief overview of sexual criminals in Minnesota. Moen said that there are close to 6,000 sex offenders that reside in Minnesota, and 106 of those offenders live in Chisago County, Pine County has 92, 268 are in Washington County and 571 call Anoka home (some of those are housed in a rehabilitation facility).

Moen went on to say that 90 percent of the offenders know their victims.

Moen explained the three levels of offenders. Level one is a low risk to the public. Level two is a moderate risk that allows the state to notify schools, day care facilities, but does not require a public meeting. Level three offenders are most likely to re-offend and thus public meetings as well as notifications in newspapers are required. Moen told the audience that there are 203 level three sex offenders that reside in Minnesota. Out of the 203, 71 are under supervision while 132 no longer require supervision.

Chisago County Sheriff Investigator Tracy Armistead told the audience that the Sherriff's Department has no say where an offender may or may not live.

Moen went on to say that Ernst has committed crimes in Wisconsin, Colorado, Iowa, North Dakota and Minnesota. In 1998 Ernst was arrested in Scott county for exposure. He was discharged in 1999. In June of 2002, Ernst committed a failure to report which is a felony and was sent back to jail. After being released later in 2002, Ernst was sent to North Dakota to serve a sentence for burglary. Ernst was convicted of stalking and theft of women's lingerie. Ernst served his sentence until February of 2010 where he then lived in Minneapolis. The athorities in Minneapolis said that Ernst had been homeless. Ernst took up residence in the 33000 block of Oasis Road outside of Center City recently, triggering the public meeting.

Ernst is required by law to register with the state his where abouts, and all personal information such as cell phone numbers, until 2025. Ernst has no restrictions such as staying away from schools, parks or other facilities where children may be present.

Armistead told the audience that a sex offender by law has the right to live and work free of harassment.

Moen then told the parents in the audience to be vigilant but not a vigilante. She said to listen to your children and to notice anyone paying extra attention to them. Moen handed out literature and spoke of websites that deal specifically with situations such as this.

Armistead said that a lot of the offenders keep their level ratings for reasons, such as drinking, besides the potential for re-offending.

Moen explained that Ernst does have an extensive history of exposing himself, over 24 times. Ernst has also been convicted of having sexual contact with an 11 year old girl.

Moen said that Ernst now resides with a man whom he works for. Moen also said that unfortunately the DOC may not release information on Ernst's vehicle.

The audience expressed concern about Ernst history of burglary as well as sexual misconduct. One woman said that she now has to worry about her house (which is very close to Ernst's ) being burglarized.

Another woman asked if he exposes himself, would Ernst go back to jail. Wendy Stenberg from the Chisago County Attorney's Office replied it would be reviewed and if his criminal history scores were high enough he would go back to jail.

Armistead told the audience that every officer knows everything about Ernst and will be keeping an eye out for any mistakes he may make.

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