Lang
12/4/22
A registered sex offender faces charges that he lived at an unlisted Iowa City address with his girlfriend, her adult children and the couple’s toddler-aged children.
Iowa City Police report an officer had been unsuccessfully trying to verify a Muscatine Avenue address for 35-year-old Joe Vivians since May of 2021. In 2006, Vivians was convicted in Buchanan County of Assault With Intent to Commit Sexual Abuse against a girl between the ages of 14 and 17.
Police knew Vivians had been involved in multiple calls for service at an address on East Burlington Street, and just after 9:15pm on November 22nd an officer encountered Vivians leaving the building. Vivians allegedly admitted that he was there “all the time”, and that his girlfriend lived there with her adult children and the couple’s toddler-aged children. He reportedly claimed he didn’t answer the door for police at the other residence because he thought there were warrants for his arrest.
Investigators say Vivians also lied about employment with two different companies, including one from which he was drawing unemployment while still listing them as his current employer.
Police say VivIans continued to change his story, and his girlfriend attempted to lie for him as well.
Vivians was booked into the Johnson County Jail just after 10:30 Saturday night and charged with a Sex Offender Registry Violation – 2nd or Subsequent Offense. If convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison. Vivians has previous sex offender registry violation convictions out of Black Hawk County.