UPDATE: An arrest has been made in the case of a convicted sex offender out of St. Landry Parish who failed to register as a sex offender while maintaining residency in the parish. 

59 year old Charles Ray Forbes, aka, Beloved Zhion Aquarius was charged with notification of sex offender and child predator.

Deputies say Forbes had numerous active accounts on social media and never made notification of his status. 

Forbes is being held in the St. Landry Parish jail with no bond. 

ST. LANDRY PARISH, La. (KLFY) – A tip to the News 10 newsroom prompted our investigation into sex offenders and social media.

One of our viewers was concerned when they found out a convicted sex offender in St. Landry Parish was actively using social media.

Up until July 2017, sex offenders and child predators were not allowed to use social media. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down that ruling stating a violation of First Amendment rights; but with that change, came regulations.

Lieutenant Michael Soileau with the Sex Offender Unit St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office said, “In his profile of the networking website an indication that he is a sex offender or child predator, shall include notice of the crime for which he was committed, the jurisdiction of the conviction, a description of his physical characteristics as required by this section.”

Lt. Soileau says he’s seen cases where offenders use aliases on social media.

“Often times, they think they can circumvent the system by using an alias name.”

That’s when his team gets search warrants for the suspect’s phone and computer to trace the social media activity back to its source.

“If any sex offender that has a profile page, whether using their name or another name, and it can be proven that they regularly access that Facebook or other website accounts, then they would be in violation of this chapter.”

Sheriff Bobby Guidroz says non-compliance by criminals will not be tolerated.

“When people call in or we discover that a sex offender is in St. Landry Parish and has not registered or has not complied with the law we take it very seriously,” the sheriff said. 

Due to the ongoing investigation into the case, we’re looking into, the suspect’s name is not being released. 

However, we will be in contact with the proper authorities tracking its progress.