Haylee Donathan Found with Ohio Tier 3 Sex Offender Robbie Potter

by Tina Kells | June 24, 2009 at 12:06 pm

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Missing Ohio girl Haylee Donathan has been found and is safe. The 4-year old girl was discovered by police hiding out with her mother, Candace Watson and a tier three sex offender by the name of Robbie Potter.

Robbie Potter, Candace Watson and 4-year old Haylee Donathan were found at the The Morning Star Ranch in Valley Center, California. There are unconfirmed reports that a staff member at Morning Star Ranch turned them in. They had been at the ranch for just over a week.

Haylee Donathan has been taken into state custody by children's protective services and is said to be in good spirits, but may be suffering from a case of the chicken pox. The state of California is making preparations to return Haylee to the care of her grandmother, Mary Watson. Robbie Potter, 27, and Candace Watson, 24, have been taken into police custody.

Robbie Potter, a registered tier three sex offender, went missing from his half way house on May 28, 2009, the same day Haylee Donathan and her mother disappeared. Potter is a tier three sex offender in the state of Ohio.

In Ohio tier three sex offenders must "register with the County Sheriff every 90 days for life. In addition, must register any change of residential address, place of employment, or enrollment in a school or institution of higher education."

Tier three sex offender is the most severe classification under Ohio law. Along with lifetime registration and monitoring tier three sex offenders may be subject to community notification when they change addresses.

Any neighbor living within 1000 feet of a tier three sex offender in Ohio will receive direct notification from police. Similar notice will be given to all schools, daycare centers and law enforcement agencies in the area of residence.

Haylee Donathan, her mother Candace Watson and Robbie Potter were discovered hiding for the past week at The Morning Star Ranch, a retreat in Valley Center, near San Diego, said Peter Elliott, United States Marshal for the Northern District of Ohio.

Potter is a registered sex offender, officials said. He was being sought by the U.S. Marshal's Service.

Late Tuesday Haylee was in the custody of a children's protective services agency in the San Diego County area, Elliott said. She was doing well but may have chicken pox, he added.

"We understand she is healthy and happy and I believe, waiting to come back to her grandmother here," he said.