Jeena Nilson pleads not guilty for failing to register as a sex offender

Jeena Nilson, 58, arrested and charged with six counts of failing to register as a sex offender, a third-degree felony.

LOGAN — A 59-year-old Providence woman has pleaded not guilty for failing to update her sex offender registry. Jeena Nilson entered her plea in 1st District Court Thursday afternoon, following a preliminary hearing where a judge found sufficient evidence to bind her over on four counts of failing to register as a sex-offender, a third-degree felony.

<p class=”Standard”>Specifically, state attorney Spencer Walsh said she never disclosed her social media accounts, a vehicle, and her employment or volunteer work at Altius Gymnastics Academy.  

In November 2002, Nilson was sentenced to one-to-15 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of sex abuse of a child, a second-degree felony.

During Thursday’s hearing, Logan City Police Lt. Rod Peterson, who originally investigated Nilson’s first case, told the court he began investigating her again in 2015 after receiving multiple complaints of her working with children at the gymnastics school. He presented several witness statements and photographs, showing her interactions with some of the kids. He said, what concerned him most was the gym is the same location where she had found her previous victim.

Peterson described how as the investigation continued, he learned that Nilson never reported in her sex-offender registry that she was working there. He also discovered she had a Linked In and Facebook account that was never disclosed, and a Ford Ranger truck that was also never reported.

Outside the courtroom, Rozann Moake, owner of the gymnastics school, admitted that her mother worked at the school but said the charges against her are false and spurred by people’s gossip.

“At the time she was the owner of the equipment,” said Moake. “So as the owner of her own equipment, she would repair it. When it had a hole, she would go in and sew the mat. When she would get a new piece of equipment, she would go in and set it up.

“Other than that, the vast majority of the time she was in there was taking care of my kids and being a normal mother or grandmother in the gym.

“So yeah, people saw her in the gym but she was taking care of her own equipment and my kids.”

Defense attorney Camille Neider said Nilson reported all 33 times and has corrected her registry since being arrested. She argued that prosecutors should have only filed one charge against her.

Judge Kevin Allen said he would be interested in hearing further arguments from attorneys on that issue. He ordered Nilson to appear again in court August 22.

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