Top Five Sexual Predators in West Texas
By: Stephanie Sobic
Updated: September 21, 2010
In 2006, the Adam Walsh Act was signed into law, making the US Marshal Service the leading agency at locating fugitive sex offenders. The act also made, not registering as a sex offender- a federal crime. In July, the US Marshal Service partnered with local law enforcement to make the worst of the worst sexual predator list. On the list are 5 fugitives. As of August, one of those offenders was caught.
Convicted sexual predators know they have to register as a sexual offender for the rest of their lives. Today, the city of Midland has seen an increase in the number of offenders on their list.
"More sexually related offenses are being reported, investigated, tried and those people are convicted and once they're convicted their required to register," says Chief Price Robinson with MPD.
Of course not all do and they continue to be a threat to our communities. These 5 most dangerous fugitives have been on the run for awhile.
"I think part of it may be that they changed their appearance. Some of them are very good at changing their appearance by removing their facial hair or hair all together," explains Robert Almonte, United States Marshal.
Another challenge is that they don't stay in one place for very long.
"I don't have to tell you, although the Marshall Service has districts, criminals do not," says Almonte.
But, now that it's a federal crime to not register, law enforcement can track down any non-compliant predator in the US.
"We have registered one of the five, he was arrested in McCamey on August the 6th. He was originally wanted in Uvalde, TX for failure to register as a sex offender," says Almonte.
Now, with one behind bars, the five most wanted list in our area is down to four.
"It's very satisfying when we take any of these guys off the streets, at least we know they're not going to hurt anybody again," says Almonte.
This partnership between the US Marshal Service and our local law enforcement agencies, is part of a nation-wide effort called “Operation Guardian”. All Marshal districts are getting with police and sheriff departments at local levels. To combat sexually offenses and make sure predators don't continue to commit crimes.
