A man from Colbert County, Alabama, has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for failing to register as a sex offender, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona.
Michael Shane McDaniel, 57, of Muscle Shoals, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Corey L. Maze to 24 months in prison and eight years of supervised release. In June, McDaniel pleaded guilty to not registering or updating his registration as required under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
Court documents state that McDaniel was convicted of child molestation in 2011 in Marion Superior Court in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was required to register as a sex offender under SORNA and initially did so in Indiana. However, between June and December 2024, after moving from Indiana to Alabama, he failed to register as a sex offender in Alabama.
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 established SORNA and created a national system for sex offender registration aimed at public protection. This law requires those convicted of certain crimes to be listed on the national sex offender registry.
The investigation involved multiple agencies: the U.S. Marshals Service for the Northern District of Alabama, the U.S. Marshals Service for the Southern District of Indiana, the U.S. Marshals Service Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force, the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office in Indiana, and the Colbert County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama. Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Leann White prosecuted the case.
The prosecution was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative started in May 2006 that brings together federal, state, and local resources to address child sexual exploitation and abuse online and identify victims. More information about Project Safe Childhood is available at www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
