GREENFIELD — A convicted sex offender is back in jail, accused of moving to a public campground marketed toward families and children without disclosing his new address to county officials, officials said.
Kory Emge, 22, was convicted last year of child exploitation, a Level 5 felony. He is now charged with failure to register as a sex offender after moving to a campground without reporting his address change so his listing on the sex-offender registry could be updated, court documents state.
In early May, Emge called the county probation department to ask if he could stay at Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park, a campground at 5964 State Road 109. Hancock County Sheriff’s Department officials told him while there are no registry guidelines regarding campgrounds, the Knightstown campground is geared toward children, and Emge should not stay there.
Emge failed to register a change of address twice in recent months, officials said. In April, he failed to tell county officials he had moved to the Greenfield Inn, records show. Sex offenders must report address changes within 72 hours in Indiana, according to court records. Then, he moved to the campground without contacting the county officials charged with monitoring his whereabouts.
On May 9, less than a week after probation department officials told Emge to steer clear of the campground, Shirley Town Marshal Brian Pryor told the probation department one of his officers recognized the man when he gave Emge a ride to the campground’s tent area, court records show.
Probation officials checked to see if Emge had reported his address change to Henry County instead of Hancock County, but no changes in residency were noted, records show. Emge was arrested May 26, records show.
Emge’s original sex offense dates back to August. He was arrested after a young girl told police the then-21-year-old sent her inappropriate text messages, court documents state.
Emge was charged with a Level 5 felony county of child exploitation, records show.
Emge was accused of cultivating a relationship with a 13-year-old he met at Riley Pool in 2015, telling the girl “age is just a number,” court documents state. The girl’s mother called police after finding sexually explicit messages on the girl’s cellphone, investigators said.
Emge was questioned by police and denied any inappropriate behavior, adding he believed the girl was older than 18, court documents state.
Emge was sentenced to two years in the Hancock County Jail with one year suspended and one year in a low-level security community corrections program, court records show. The court required restrictions associated with sex offender probation as a condition of Emge’s participation in Hancock County Community Corrections, records show.
An initial hearing on the new charge, which is a Level 6 felony, is scheduled for June 20, and a jury trial is slated for Aug. 8 in Hancock County Circuit Court.
If convicted, Emge faces a maximum of 2.5 years in an Indiana Department of Correction facility, according to court documents.
