The Apache Junction Police Department is notifying the community about a registered sex offender moving into the city.

The notification is pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes §13-3825. Notification must be made when certain sex offenders are released from the Arizona State Prison, accepted under an interstate compact agreement or released from a county jail back into the community, according to a release.

It is the responsibility of the chief law enforcement officer having jurisdiction where the offender intends to reside to inform the community.

John Edward Durham Jr., 48, is living in the 300 block of South Main Drive in Apache Junction.

He is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, 180 pounds and has brown hair and hazel eyes.

Mr. Durham was convicted in 1998 of attempted sexual assault, a class 3 felony, in Pinal County. The victim was an adult female unknown to him.

He is considered by the Apache Junction Police Department to be a level 3 risk to the community.

Flyers are being distributed to immediate neighbors, community schools, day care centers and local media.

The person who appears in this notification has been convicted of a sex offense, which allows the Apache Junction Police Department to make community notification.

The notification is not intended to increase fear; rather it is to inform the community of a sex offender living in the city and to comply with state statutes, community notification on sex offenders, according to the release.

“Our belief is that an informed community is a safer community. Citizen abuse of this information to threaten, intimidate or harass this individual will not be tolerated and charges may be filed against anyone violating the law,” the release states.

The AJPD Community Resources Unit may be reached at 474-5442 and is available to help people join or start a Neighborhood Block Watch program as well as provide them with useful information on personal safety.

If you have information regarding current criminal activity on this or any other offender, call 480-982-8260 or, in the event of an emergency, 911.