A state lawmaker who voted against a comprehensive rewrite of the state’s sex-offender registration laws has a convicted sex offender living at his house.
Court records show that Michael K. Frierson lives at Republican Rep. Randy Baumgardner’s address in Hot Sulphur Springs.
Court records show the conviction stems from incidents in July 2004 involving Frierson, who was 24 at the time, and a victim, who was younger than 14. Frierson pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of sexual assault and was sentenced to five years’ probation.
A Grand County deputy arrested Frierson in April at Baumgardner’s house on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender because he moved last year without notifying the sheriff as required, and he failed to re-register in December on his birthday as required, according to the warrant.
Baumgardner’s wife paid the $2,000 bond for Frierson, 32, who is scheduled to appear in District Court in Hot Sulphur Springs on Tuesday.
Baumgardner is running against Sen. Jean White of Hayden in the June 26 GOP primary in Senate District 8.
“As a Christian, I know providing second chances is what God does best, so it is important for me to help others rebuild their lives, even after tragic mistakes,” Baumgardner said in an e-mail. “The young man is paying his debt to society like any redeemed person should and I will always hope and pray for his best.
“This false eleventh-hour attempt at guilt by association can only be interpreted as desperation by supporters of Jean White to distract voters away from her terrible voting record in the state Senate.”
Baumgardner told Fox 31’s Eli Stokols on Thursday that Frierson “came to us a year and a half ago and has been working on our farm.”
“He’s never been anything but respectful,” Baumgardner said. “We took him at his word he screwed up when he was young, and you know, most of us do.”
Baumgardner’s wife, Lori, addressed the situation on her Face book page last week.
“I have to tell you all, YES it’s all true!” she wrote. “We hired a young man that had a past! It’s not good but when do your forgive? … We didn’t know but became aware of the charges and bailed him out. We have a trust developed over a year, I don’t know what else to say. …”
Baumgardner in 2011 was one of four House Republicans to vote against a bill that rewrote sex-offender registration requirements, some of which were deemed contradictory or impossible to follow within required time frames. He voted for the bill when it left the House but said he couldn’t support the final effort, which had been changed by the Senate.
Staff researcher Barbara Hudson contributed to this report.
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327 or lbartels@denverpost.com
