Cops: Convicted sex offender had pot, didn’t report change of address

A registered level-3 sex offender was arrested last week after he failed to update authorities on his current whereabouts and showed up to police headquarters with marijuana on him, Southampton Town Police said.

Benjamin Griffin, 55, last gave his address as the trailer at Center Drive in Riverside, the location where the county houses its homeless sex offender population, authorities said.

Southampton Police Sergeant Howard Kalb said it was not clear where Mr. Griffin was currently staying, but he had not stayed at the Suffolk County operated trailers, located just outside the county jail, since April 2011.

Convicted sex offenders have ten days to notify police of a change of address.

Southampton Town Police said Mr. Griffin came into headquarters for a required check-in last Thursday and officers found the marijuana on him. He was charged with failure to register change of address on the sex offender registry and unlawful possession of marijuana.

Mr. Griffin was originally convicted in May 1983 of first-degree rape and first-degree sexual abuse and was sentenced to a maximum of 27 years in prison, according to the New York State Sex Offender Registry. A level-3 sex offender is the type the state defines as the most at risk of becoming a repeat offender.