Just days after his early release ignited national fury, Ronald Exantus, convicted in the brutal 2015 stabbing death of a 6-year-old boy in Kentucky, is back behind bars in Florida.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) confirmed his arrest was a priority, stating the most disturbing detail was that Exantus was residing immediately next to an elementary school.
The 42-year-old, whose controversial release earlier this month was scrutinized by even the White House, was arrested for failing to register as a convicted felon in Florida.
A Fence Was All That Separated Him
The MCSO Intel Unit confirmed that Exantus had recently moved from Kentucky and set up residence in Marion County. During a press update on Friday, a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson highlighted the shocking proximity to a local school.
“He had set up residents immediately next to an elementary school,” the spokesperson stated. “When I say immediately next to it, there’s a fence between his house and the elementary school. That was it.”
Upon learning his location, the Sheriff’s Office took immediate action, stating they deployed detectives between the residence and the school to ensure the children’s safety.
Exantus, who had more than 48 hours to comply with Florida law, was arrested after he willfully flaunted the requirement to register as a felon with the Sheriff’s Office. He is now being held without bond in the Marion County Jail.
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Outrage and a Push for Extradition
The MCSO believes the failure to register constitutes a violation of his probation, and they are working closely with the State Attorney’s Office and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier to have him extradited back to Kentucky.
“Our hope here is that he is sent right back to Kentucky, where he came from, and as a violation of his probation and taken off of our streets,” the spokesperson said.
Exantus was convicted in the 2015 attack that killed 6-year-old Logan Tipton.
Though a jury sentenced him to 20 years, they found him not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, convicting him instead of second-degree assault. This classification as a “nonviolent offender” made him eligible for early release after serving only part of his sentence, a ruling that has since drawn widespread condemnation and fueled calls for law reform in Kentucky.
“The outrage that we’ve seen from this nationally, I think, stems from the seemingly loss of common sense… to turn somebody like this back out into the public,” the MCSO concluded, stating their goal is to see Exantus “back behind bars” where he belongs.
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