A Colbert County man has been charged for failing to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, as announced by U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and United States Marshal Martin Keely.
The U.S. District Court has charged Michael Shane McDaniel, 56, from Plainfield, Indiana, with failing to register or update his registration as required. McDaniel, previously convicted of child molestation in Indiana, moved from Indiana to Alabama without registering as a sex offender, leading to his arrest on April 16, 2025, in Colbert County, Alabama. McDaniel is currently held in federal custody pending further proceedings.
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, which enacted SORNA, mandates a national registration system for sex offenders and classifies non-registration following interstate travel as a federal felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The U.S. Marshals Service from Alabama and Indiana, along with the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force and local law enforcement from Hendricks County, Indiana, and Colbert County, Alabama, conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Leann White is handling the prosecution.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice established in 2006 to address child sexual exploitation and abuse by coordinating federal, state, and local resources to investigate and prosecute offenders. For more details, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
It is important to note that an indictment includes only charges; the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.