Screen capture of sex offender registry operated by Warm Springs Tribes.

A sex offender was arrested, then released, after leaving the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon.

Joe Ray Greene was convicted of sex crimes involving children. He registered as a sex offender on the reservation pursuant to tribal law.

But he left and ended up in Portland, where he was living on the streets. Authorities picked him up there but had to release him because the tribe's warrant wasn't recognized off the reservation.

The tribe maintains a sex offender registry. Tribal and local authorities are looking for ways to share information to address future situations.

"We see a hole. We see a deficiency,'' Stan Suenaga, the general manager of the tribal public safety branch, told The Oregonian. "We're working to fix it. It's all about community safety, and we realize that.''

Get the Story:
Disappearance of predatory sex offender from Warm Springs illustrates 'crazy' loophole in registry system (The Oregonian 11/2)