The Grant County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday morning that a convicted sex offender will be released from custody to a Town of Platteville house next week.
David J. Pettit, 61, is described by a Sheriff’s Office notification as “a convicted sex offender who has been identified by professionals as a person who may present a risk to reoffend.”
The notification was made by members of a team that reviews sex offender bulletin notifications, including law enforcement, the Grant County District Attorney’s office and its Crime Victim Service Office, the state Department of Corrections, the state Department of Human Services and local probation agents.
Pettit is 5 foot 8 inches tall and weighs 194 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair. He will be living at 639 Cheese Factory Lane in the Town of Platteville. State law requires that sex offenders released from custody must return to the community where the conviction occurred, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Pettit was charged in 1987 with two counts of first-degree sexual assault with use of a dangerous weapon, four counts of second-degree sexual assault with use of force, carrying a concealed weapon and possession of marijuana, for two incidents in Grant County in November 1987.
Pettit was committed in 1999 after the state filed a Sexually Violent Person Petition. He was committed to Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center in Mauston. He has lifetime registration with the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registration Program.
Pettit is supervised by probation agents, including being restricted geographically by GPS monitoring equipment and chaperoned when he is outside his residence. Pettit is banned from visitors without a Department of Corrections representative present, and he is prohibited from being anywhere where children can commonly be found, including parks and schools. He is also banned from contact with anyone younger than 18, alcohol, illegal narcotics, and possessing firearms, a computer or cellphone.
The notification says that Pettit is not wanted by police, and that “citizen abuse of this information to threaten, intimidate or harass registered sex offenders will not be tolerated.” Anyone who sees Pettit violate the rules of his release is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office, 723-2157, or Probation & Parole, 723-6332.
According to the state registry, 20 registered sex offenders live in the Platteville area code, 10 of whom are on the registry for life.
