Staff Report

Travis Wayne Hardesty

WARSAW — A Ligonier man was recently arrested after failing to register with the Indiana Sex Offender Registry.

Travis Wayne Hardesty, 31, 102 E. 4th St. Apartment 3, Ligonier, is charged with failure to register as a sex offender, a level 6 felony; and failure to register as a sex offender with a prior conviction, a level 5 felony.

On Dec. 3, 2021, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office deputy was assigned to investigate a sex offender registry violation for Hardesty, who was convicted of child molesting in Elkhart County in November 2010. Hardesty is required to register until May 28, 2023.

According to court documents, on Feb. 26, 2020, Hardesty registered with the Indiana Sex Offender Registry at KCSO, providing a home address in Kosciusko County. Hardesty is required to register in-person at least once a year with the sheriff’s office in each county where you are required to register. Hardesty has not registered since the Feb. 26, 2020, registration at KCSO.

On Jan. 21, the KCSO deputy completed an Indiana BMV inquiry for Hardesty and discovered that Hardesty had updated his residence on his driver’s license to a location in Noble County. This change was made on Oct. 30, 2021.

At the time of this incident, Hardesty was out on bond for a fraud charge in Fulton County. He was previously convicted for failing to register as a sex offender in Elkhart County in December 2015.

For this case, Hardesty was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on Sept. 5, with a $10,250 surety and cash bond.