Stutsman County sheriff notifies residents of high-risk sex offender

Residents near Jamestown Campground were alerted to a lifetime high-risk sex offender living at Site 26, 3605 80th Ave. SE in Jamestown, as the Stutsman County Sheriff’s Office moved to notify the public about Brian Sternberg’s presence in the area.

The notice said Sternberg has been given a lifetime high-risk assessment by the North Dakota Attorney General. It listed convictions for continuous sexual abuse of a child, child abuse and corrupt solicitation of a minor, with conviction dates of Oct. 13, 2000, and May 7, 1992, in Cass County District Court. The sheriff’s office also said Sternberg was not wanted by police at the time of the notification.

State registry guidance says local police and sheriff’s departments handle community notifications when a registered offender moves into a neighborhood, and the information in the registry is updated in real time as changes are entered. North Dakota classifies registered offenders as low, moderate or high risk through a professional assessment process involving the Attorney General’s Office, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Sex Offender Risk Assessment Committee.

That classification carries different registration periods. Low-risk offenders must register for at least 15 years, moderate-risk offenders for 25 years and high-risk offenders for life. State guidance also says a high-risk offender may not live within 500 feet of a public or nonpublic preschool, elementary, middle or high school. North Dakota’s November 2021 risk-assessment guidelines say a high-risk designation does not automatically mean a person will reoffend, and that risk assessment is not an exact science.

The same rules allow an offender to ask for reconsideration of a risk level, but not sooner than two years after the original assignment and then no more often than every two years. North Dakota also says an out-of-state offender must register within three days of arriving if the person stays overnight in the state for 10 consecutive days or for 30 days or more in a calendar year.

For families, school routes and daily travel around Jamestown, the notification is meant to identify where the offender lives and how the registry should be used, not to spread fear or prompt harassment. State guidance says the information is there for public safety, and law enforcement says residents should rely on the registry and official notifications rather than rumor.