Mesa County deputies say a sex offender has been living here for nine years without registering.

Now 38–year–old Scott Cowger is behind bars facing nine felony counts of registration violation.

According to an arrest affidavit, a California court convicted him of lewd acts with a child under 14 in 1990.

The law requires him to re-register every year on his birthday.

Coweger is being held without bond in the Mesa County jail until his first court appearance.