Local man arrested for alleged felony sex-offender registry violation

Stock file photo, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A repeat sex offender who allegedly failed to comply with courts in two states was arrested by St. George Police officers early Wednesday morning.

Michael J. Dobrovolny booking photo taken In Washington County, Utah, Aug. 21, 2019 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

Michael J. Dobrovolny, 57, of St. George, was arrested and booked into jail shortly after 3:30 a.m. for third-degree felony sex offender registry violation, as well as a misdemeanor offense for failing to obtain a sex offender identification card after he allegedly failed to comply with the courts in Utah and Texas, according to court records.

Dobrovolny is required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life after a 1997 conviction in Texas for sexual offenses against children. He also has a 2016 case in Utah where he was convicted of one misdemeanor charge of attempted sex offender in a restricted area.

The 2016 case involved an incident where the defendant reportedly approached an 11-year-old boy in a St. George grocery store asking him if he needed to use the restroom and then told the child that he could help him.

The child then ran and alerted his mother, who followed Dobrovolny outside where she was able to get a description of the man as well as the license plate number of the Dodge van he drove off in. The woman then called 911 to report the incident.

Officers responded and stopped the defendant’s van on Tabernacle. After running a check, they also discovered the Texas conviction, at which time they determined that Dobrovolny was in violation of the terms of his sentence. He was then arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility for a sex offender violation as well as an outstanding warrant.

In August 2017, the defendant was sentenced to 90-day home confinement with an ankle-monitor and placed on 18-months bench probation and required to provide the sex offender registry with updated information. He was also prohibited from having any contact with anyone under the age of 18. His case was closed in February 2019 until this most recent incident.

Dobrovolny was booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility early Wednesday morning where he remains on $6,950 bail.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2019, all rights reserved.

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