Yuma County Sheriff Issues Level 3, Level 1 Notifications for Sex Offenders

The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office announced community notifications under A.R.S. 13-3825 for three registered sex offenders, naming James Long and Thaddeus Cuturia as Level 3 and Oscar Vazquez as Level 1, the office said in its release. The Vazquez notification carries a timestamped press release marked "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 3, 2026 - 10:00 AM" and lists a new address in Yuma at 13248 E. 39th Street, Yuma, AZ 85367.

The YCSO press material provides physical descriptors for Oscar Vazquez as height 5'9", weight 240 lbs, hair gray and eyes brown, and identifies him as "a Level 1 sex offender with a low risk to reoffend." The release records DR# NA alongside the Vazquez notice and promotes the YCSO OffenderWatch page for free email alerts and offender searches.

The office identified James Long and Thaddeus Cuturia with Level 3 notifications but the supplied YCSO materials did not include addresses, physical descriptions, timestamps, DR numbers or offense details for Long or Cuturia. The record supplied to this newsroom contains the names and level designations only; no conviction dates, charges or supervising-agency information for either Level 3 offender were included.

Statewide procedures frame the county notices. The Arizona Department of Public Safety notes that "the community notification process in Arizona is triggered by a sex offender's release from jail/prison or sentence to probation" and that county adult probation agencies or the Arizona Department of Corrections are required to enter offender information into the statewide database. AZDPS also states that it "maintains a current list of published registered sex offenders" and that its downloadable list contains information for Level 2, Level 3 and those meeting ARS §13-3827 requirements.

YCSO public-safety messaging accompanies the notifications. The agency wrote, "This notification is not intended to increase fear; rather, it is our belief that an informed community is a safer community." The release also cautions that "The YCSO has no legal authority to direct where a sex offender may or may not live. Unless court ordered restrictions exist, this offender is constitutionally free to live wherever he/she chooses. Citizen abuses of this information to threaten, intimidate, or harass sex offenders will not be tolerated."

For community reporting and press contacts the release lists Information Released By: Tania Pavlak, Public Affairs Specialist, and provides a YCSO contact phone of (928) 783-4427. The AZDPS county registration listing separately shows a Yuma County registration-location phone of (928) 329-2254 at 141 South 3rd Avenue, Yuma, AZ 85364; the two numbers appear in source materials but are not identified as the same office.

The sheriff’s release directs residents with knowledge of current criminal activity to call the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office at (928) 783-4427 and urges the public to use the YCSO OffenderWatch page to "register for free email alerts or search for sex offenders in your area." The office and AZDPS materials indicate that updated entries and future notifications will follow the statutory process as county probation or the DOC enters new information into the statewide registry.