COLUMBUS, Ind. — The Columbus Police Department arrested an alleged violent sex offender for felony charges on Tuesday, June 24 after his release earlier this month.
Michael O. Kent, 36 of Columbus, was released from the Bartholomew County Jail on June 2nd, 2025 after being incarcerated on charges of illegal sex offender residency violations and unlawful entry by a serious sex offender from October of 2022. Prior to his incarceration in 2022, CPD received multiple complaints of Kent acting suspicious and approaching women. After Kent’s release earlier this month, CPD received a similar complaint. CPD’s Intelligence Unit conducted covert surveillance of Kent and learned that he had been residing in the 800 block of 4th Street, which is within 1000 feet of a school, and he failed to report his residency to the sex offender coordinator.
Officers arrested Kent and he was preliminarily charged with failure to register as a serious violent predator and illegal sex offender residency violations, both level 6 felonies. Kent remains in the Bartholomew County Jail.
