PORT ANGELES — A registered sex offender who allegedly cut off his court-ordered tracking device in February has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the incident that led to a monthlong search for him.
Philip Curtis Shelly, 52, entered a not-guilty plea Friday in Clallam County Superior Court to one count each of failure to register as a sex offender and escape from community custody.
Shelly, who had pleaded guilty to two separate failure-to-register charges in 2010 and 2012, will next appear in court April 19 at 9 a.m. for a status hearing.
Shelly’s jury trial date has been set for May 13. He remained in the Clallam County jail Saturday on $250,000 bond.
Shelly allegedly cut off his tracking ankle bracelet and dropped it into a downtown Port Angeles mailbox Feb. 2, setting in motion a state Department of Corrections-led search for him that ended a month later with Shelly being found in Seattle.
U.S. Marshals Service officers found Shelly on March 1 in downtown Seattle after getting a request for help in tracking him down from the Port Angeles Police Department and the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
Shelly was found in the Seattle area after law enforcement officers tracked his cellphone usage, according to court documents filed in the case.
Shelly had pleaded guilty in 1998 to first-degree rape of a 3-year-old child in Clallam County and was required to register as a sex offender after being released in 2009.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
