Some sex offenders from neighboring jurisdictions try to take advantage of the District’s lenient legal requirements, authorities say.
Andre McGant was convicted in 2002 of third-degree sex abuse involving an 8-year-old girl in Montgomery County. In Maryland, McGant is required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and immediately notify authorities about any change of address of his home or work.
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But in the District, the 53-year-old McGant only has to register for 10 years for the same crime.
In 2008, he informed the Montgomery County Police Department that he would no longer register in Maryland because he was moving to D.C. and would be registered there.
He wrongly claimed a relative’s house in Northeast Washington as his place of residence, authorities said. The District does not conduct routine compliance checks to verify the address of sex offenders not on probation or parole.
Up until last month, McGant had been a volunteer coach for about a year at the private Avalon School in Gaithersburg.
Police discovered his residency discrepancy after he got into a confrontation with the mother of one of his own children at the child’s school in Montgomery County, sources said.
McGant was charged in the county with failure to register as a sex offender and was fired from the coaching position.
— Scott McCabe
