The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office has issued a sex offender notification for the Oracle area.
Terry Lee Whitten has reported that he will be living in the 600 block of W. Pajaro St., Oracle. Whitten is 6’ with brown hair and hazel eyes. He is 160 pounds and is Caucasian. He was convicted in 1984 for sexual assault and was convicted through a plea bargain in 2018 of attempted address/name change of sex offender after being arrested for failure to register with Pinal County Sheriff’s Office. He is considered to be a Level 3 offender.
The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office is releasing the above information pursuant to A.R.S. 13-3825, the Community Notification on Sex Offender Law. Notification must be made when certain sex offenders are released from the Arizona State Prison, accepted under an interstate compact or released from the county jail back into the community. Offenders are categorized into three levels: Level One (low risk to the community), Level Two (intermediate risk to the community), and Level Three (high risk to the community).
The individual who appears on this notification has been convicted of a sex offense, which allows for community notification. He is not wanted by the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office at this time.
This notification is not intended to increase fear; rather it is our belief that an informed community is a safer community. The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office has no legal authority to direct where a sex offender may or may not live. Unless court ordered restrictions exist, this offender is constitutionally free to live wherever he chooses. Citizen abuse of this information to threaten, intimidate, or harass sex offenders will not be tolerated. Sex offenders have always lived in our communities; but because of Megan’s Law, law enforcement is now able to share this information with you.
Deputies caution that any use of this information to threaten, intimidate, harass or create an act against another person will result in prosecution.