Sex Offender Issues

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11/09/2007

Sex offender was found decapitated

Jim Sorensen is not only coping with the image of his 26-year-old son's decapitation, he's trying to defend his son's reputation surrounding a sex offense conviction.

As Northville police continued to search for suspects in the killing of Daniel Sorensen of River Rouge, his father begged Friday that anyone with information call police or turn themselves in.

"If you know anything, look at what this person did to my son," said Jim Sorensen, 51, of Westland. "If you were involved, turn yourself in because you will be caught."

Police, with the assistance of the Michigan State Crime Lab, used a fingerprint Thursday to identify Daniel Sorensen's body. It had been found Thursday morning on Hidden Ridge Drive in Northville Township.

Sorensen was decapitated and his body was severely burned, police said. His head has not been recovered.

Jim Sorensen said the sex offender conviction occurred when his son was 17 and dating a 14-year-old girl that he met on the Internet. Daniel Sorenson thought the girl was 16 and went to Illinois to meet her.

"He's not a pedophile," Jim Sorensen said. "This was consensual touching. We have a son who has been murdered violently, but we have a view of him as a sex offender, and that is not fair."

He said he does not believe his son's death is related to the sex offense.

The conviction on the fourth-degree sex offense dogged Daniel Sorensen when he applied for jobs, his father said. Most recently, he told his parents he was driving a truck.

"Dan was a social being," his father said. "We called him 'Bear,' because he was like a big old teddy bear."

Northville Township Public Safety Director John Werth said police followed up on leads Friday. They are searching for Daniel Sorensen's red Chevrolet S-10 pickup.

"We are clueless at this time," Jim Sorensen said. "We need the public's help."