Bunn, N.C. — Law enforcement officers arrested 19 people and seized four firearms, a laptop, hard drive and memory card during a sex offender roundup in Franklin, Nash and Warren counties Wednesday.

About 70 officers from the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force and other state and local law enforcement agencies visited the homes of 274 registered sex offenders to make sure they were in compliance with the law.

Those arrested include:

Franklin County

• Thomas Edward Wynne, 24, possession of firearm by felon
• Robert Charles Phelan, 31, failure to change address, use of a social network by a sex offender. Authorities say he was registered in Franklin County, working in Wake County and living in Wilson County.
• Michael Dean Lynch, 25, probation violation
• Timothy L. Jones, 52, probation violation
• Penny Dowdy, 42, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving while license revoked

Nash County

• Curtis Miller, 29, failure to change address as a sex offender
• Kevin Dozier, 40, failure to appear from Jones County
• Ulysees Rogers, 60, trespassing
• Melvin Edmonson Jr., 39, child support, resist/delay/obstruct officer
• Michael Cooper, 21, failure to appear, possession of Schedule II narcotics
• Rachel Montero, 42, failure to register as a sex offender
• Daron Lashawn Battle, 20, failure to register as a sex offender
• Edward Stukes, 47, failure to change address as a sex offender
• Detron Bennett, 32, failure to appear
• Terry Lawing, 52, failure to appear
• Ronald Todd Mitchell, 45, failure to register as a sex offender
• John Christopher Bailey, age not available, failure to appear from Johnston, Wake and Franklin counties
• Levis Hicks, 23, probation violation
• Danny Lewis, 24, possession of Schedule VI narcotics, probation violation, larceny, breaking & entering, expired tag/registration

No one was arrested in Warren County.

In July 2006, Congress passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. The legislation is aimed at sex offenders who fail to comply with state law by moving from state to state and fail to notify the required authorities of their current location.

Prior to the federal law, sex offenders could move to new communities undetected, where they were less likely to be recognized and more readily able to re-offend.

Since July 2006, 116,400 compliance checks have been conducted across the country, 54,564 fugitive sex offenders have been arrested and 348 missing children have been recovered, according to the task force.