Bemidji Police Alert Public After Level 3 Offender Address Update

Bemidji police issued a community notification after receiving information that Level 3 predatory offender Thomas Edward Strong is now living in the Bemidji area, the department said as local outlets reported the move and related safety details to residents. Lakeland News published a notice on Dec. 2, 2025 showing a Bemidji Police Department photo of Strong and stating the department released the information to keep the public informed.

Thomas Edward Strong is listed as 36 years old and, according to the Lakeland account of the police notice, “is now living in the Bemidji area and is homeless.” The same report says Strong “has engaged in sexual contact against known male and female children. Contact included penetration,” and that “Strong used his established relationships of trust to attain and exploit unmonitored contact.” Lakeland’s item also noted Strong “was released from incarceration on April 18, 2016” and that “authorities say Strong is not wanted by police.”

The department’s use of a public notice follows procedures set out in local and state guidance for Level 3 registrants. Bemidji Police Department policy number 263 (effective Jan. 1, 2018) and state law establish Level 3 as the category for offenders assessed as high risk and require broader disclosure to protect facilities and people the registrant is likely to encounter. Policy and law enforcement fact sheets call for a “good faith effort” to complete Level 3 disclosures within 14 days of receiving documents from the Department of Corrections and note the current local standard is to invite the community to a public meeting and disclose necessary information.

The community notification comes amid separate Bemidji Police Department relocation notices previously reported in the Bemidji Pioneer. That item said two Level 3 offenders, Richard Dean Derby, 33, and Jeffrey Thomas Ballek, 55, were scheduled to relocate to the 900 block of 11th Street Northwest on Sunday, June 27 (year not specified in the excerpt). The Pioneer reproduction of the police release quoted the department: “This individual has served the sentence imposed on them by the court and is transitioning into the community. This notification is not intended to increase fear but rather raise awareness. Law enforcement believes that an informed public is a safer public. The Bemidji Police Department may not direct where this individual does or does not reside, nor can this agency direct where they work or go to school.” The Pioneer also recorded that Ballek, at age 34, was arrested for sexual contact against two known female children and later, at age 48, was found in possession of electronic images of child pornography; the item says he was released from prison in October 2020 and describes him as a 190 pound, 5 foot 4 inch white man.

State guidance referenced in law enforcement materials cautions that disclosure information must not be used to threaten, harass or intimidate registrants and warns such abuses could be charged as crimes or jeopardize future notifications. Bemidji Police Department policy and the cited fact sheets also prohibit public notification if an offender is residing in certain DOC‑licensed residential facilities until the agency is formally notified the offender will move into the jurisdiction. The department’s public messaging reproduced in local reporting stressed the intent of the notice is awareness rather than alarm, and the image shown with the Lakeland story was credited “Courtesy: Bemidji Police Department.”