VALPARAISO | Officials were surprised Monday when a convicted sex offender walked into court carrying a toddler to ask the judge to relieve him of the obligation of registering for life for his crime.

Johnnathan Fuller, 34, of Michigan City, who also has gone by the name Geoffrey Jacobs, said when he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual battery in 1998, he was required to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

The law subsequently changed, and, because both of his victims were under the age of 12, Fuller now is required to register for life, Deputy Prosecutor Cheryl Polarek said.

Fuller said he has earned a master's degree and has a job waiting for him if he can get off the sex offender registry.

"I'm working hard, diligently to change my life, and I'd like the opportunity to go forward with that," he said.

Polarek opposed the request, arguing the right to seek relief from the registry doesn't apply to his case. Fuller also committed the same type of sexual offense as a juvenile, and the victims in this most recent case were just 8 and 11.

The offenses occurred at the Dunes Valley Mobile Home Park in Portage.

Fuller also has had a couple of unrelated arrests and convictions since his release from prison in 1999, Polarek said.

Porter Superior Court Judge Roger Bradford took the request under consideration.

Neil Hannon, chief of Porter County Adult Probation, said while Fuller still is required to register as a sex offender, he has been off probation for seven years and is allowed to be around children.

Polarek said this is the first petition of this sort to make it to court.