LANSING – The preliminary hearing for Bradford Storti, an ex-con accused of trying to assume the identity of a dead infant, has been postponed to Nov. 13 because he recently retained a defense attorney.

Authorities say that Storti, 35, of Rock, was trying to assume a new identity so he could to move to Oregon without having to register as a sex offender.

Storti was convicted in 1999 of using a computer for the interstate shipment of child pornography. He was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison, followed by three years probation. He was also required to register as a sex offender in Michigan.

In August 2005, Storti requested a copy of the birth certificate of an infant, also from Rock, through the Michigan Vital Records Office Internet site. His request was denied, according to the Attorney General’s Office. The infant, John Slapp, died in 1972.

Then in January, the Vital Records Office received a signed petition for the baby’s birth record from a man identifying himself as John Slapp. It came with photocopies of an Oregon driver’s license, two credit cards and a Social Security card, all in the child’s name.

While processing the request, an employee discovered that John Slapp had been dead since 1972 and tipped off the State Police.

Following the investigation, Storti was found in Guinn, Michigan said Ari Faneuil, media contact for the attorney general.

“This is the first type of case that we’ve dealt with where something like this has happened for this purpose, to avoid the sex offender registry,” said Faneuil. “I’m sure it’s not the first time a sex offender has stolen an identity.”

The 1994 Michigan sex offender’s registration law requires registration and change of addresses for people convicted of sexual offenses. It also requires the addresses be registered with local law enforcement agencies. The penalty for failing to comply carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison.

“Our system works. He applied using a fake name and they caught him,” said Faneuil. “Everything worked out. All of the checks and balances worked out there.”

In 2003, the Federal Trade Commission reported 215,177 thousand complaints of identity theft. There were 246,847 such complaints in 2004 and 255,565 in 2005.

“It’s amazing how far sex offenders and other desperate criminals will go to hide their true identities, but we in the law enforcement community will remain several steps ahead of them,” said Attorney General Mike Cox.