Sex offender faces new felony charge

A San Rafael man sentenced for attempted statutory rape in 2017 has been charged with failing to register as a sex offender.

Nicholas Arnold Kunst, 58, was arraigned on the felony charge Thursday in Marin County Superior Court. He pleaded not guilty, said Gary Kauffman, one of his defense attorneys.

Kunst is not in custody. He is scheduled to return to court on July 7 for further proceedings.

Kunst's sex offense happened in 2016. He accepted an offer from his drug dealer to pay for sex with a teenage girl and went to meet her at a hotel, authorities said.

The drug dealer was an informant working for police, and the girl was fabricated as part of a sting. Kunst pleaded guilty in the case, received a 120day sentence and was ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

“After years of registering under the law as required, due to some stressors in his life he forgot to do it timely,” Kunst's other attorney, David Vogelstein, said Thursday. “The law requires that failure to register be willful and intentional. It was not. There are no allegations of bad conduct on his part.”