Cops: Sex offender didn't register

A convicted sex offender was arrested Wednesday in Middle Island on charges of failing to register a change of address, Suffolk County police said.

Lawrence O'Connell -- who last registered his address in 2001 at a New York City shelter -- was arrested at a Whiskey Road residence at 6 a.m. by Suffolk's Special Victims Unit and members of the U.S. Marshals New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force, police said.

O'Connell, 52, who was sentenced to 18 years in the Sing Sing Correctional Facility after being convicted in 1984 of raping a 6-month-old baby, was released in 2001, police said.

O'Connell was baby-sitting the infant when the attack occurred. He initially told the child's parents she had been hurt in a fall, authorities said.

Following his release from prison, O'Connell registered his address, as required by New York State's Sex Offender Registration Act. He listed the Bellevue Men's Shelter in Manhattan, but police Wednesday said O'Connell never lived there.

The arrest came after "an extensive investigation" that included the special task force, police said.

A police spokeswoman said O'Connell has lived at the Whiskey Road address since early last year.

O'Connell is being held at the Seventh Precinct and is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in First District Court in Central Islip on charges of failing to register as a sex offender.