Court grants change of venue to sex offender for failure to register charges

By Melissa Hudson

LA PORTE COUNTY, Ind. -- The man who has been convicted of killing two children and of molesting another has been granted a change of venue for his failure to register as a sex offender charges.

Richard Dobeski is facing one count of failure to register as a sex offender in La Porte County.

The state and defense have seven days to agree on a location. If they cannot agree, the venue will be determined according to criminal and local rules, according to court records.

Even if he is convicted of this charge filed in La Porte County, he will serve no jail time, according to the La Porte County Prosecutor's Office.

In July 2015, Dobeski was released from prison after serving time for child molestation and child exploitation.

He was required to register as a sex offender within seven days.

When seven days had passed and he had not registered, Dobeski was located at a library in Marion County and arrested.

He was charged in both Marion County and La Porte County with failure to register.

Dobeski was convicted of the failure to register charges in Marion County. However, in December 2016, that conviction was overturned because the court of appeals said the full seven days had not elapsed when he was arrested.

Dobeski was released from the La Porte County Jail on January 30, 2017.

At the time, the La Porte County Prosecutor's Office stated Dobeski is still facing failure to register charges in the county, but they had to release him because he had already served the maximum amount of time possible for the La Porte County charges if he were convicted.

The next hearing is scheduled for April 24.