COLUMBUS, Ind. — A suspect that Columbus police have identified as a serious violent predator is back in jail for felony charges after his release earlier this month.
Michael O. Kent, 36 of Columbus, was released from the Bartholomew County Jail on June 2 after being incarcerated on charges of illegal sex offender residency violations and unlawful entry by a serious sex offender from October of 2022. Prior to his
incarceration in 2022, CPD received multiple complaints of Kent acting suspicious and approaching women, according to Lt. Skylar Berry, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
After Kent’s release earlier this month, CPD received a similar complaint.
CPD’s Intelligence Unit conducted covert surveillance of Kent and learned that he had been residing in the 800 block of Fourth Street, which is within 1,000 feet of a school, and he failed to report his residency to the sex offender coordinator.
On June 24th, 2025, officers arrested Kent and he was preliminarily charged with failure to register as a serious violent predator and illegal sex offender residency violations, both Level 6 felonies. Kent remains in the Bartholomew County Jail.
Officers also obtained a search warrant and searched the home in the 800 block of Fourth Street. The other resident there, Vicky Burton, 54 of Columbus, was arrested for the preliminary charge of assisting a criminal, a Class A misdemeanor.
