One of Texas' most wanted fugitives captured

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12-5-15 Texas:

TEXAS - One of Texas' most wanted fugitives is now behind bars after being captured Friday morning in New Mexico.

The Texas Department of Public Safety says Fernando Thompson, 57, a Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive, was captured in Albuquerque, N.M.

Thompson was wanted for felony failure to comply with civil commitment requirements after he removed his ankle monitor on Nov. 24 and fled from an Austin halfway house.

An Albuquerque Police Department officer arrested Thompson after a random traffic stop at close to 3 a.m. Friday. The suspect was then taken to the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque.

Sex offender in treatment center again

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9-1-15 Wisconsin:

RACINE — A convicted child sex offender is no longer free in Racine after allegedly committing a series of violations that sent him back to a state-run sex offender treatment center.

Michael W. Fink, 47, was sentenced in 1994 to 14 years in prison after he was convicted of molesting two female baby sitters. His prison term was up in 2006, but before his release, he was deemed a sexually dangerous person and was transferred to Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center in Mauston. He was kept in the locked-down treatment center through a post-prison form of involuntary civil commitment, which is used when some sex offenders are deemed too dangerous to be released back into society.

During a hearing last week, Racine County Circuit Court Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz agreed to revoke his supervised release after Fink had been free for about two years.

Assistant Attorney General Angelina Gabriele said Fink already had agreed to have his release revoked by Aug. 3, the prior hearing date. Fink’s defense attorney, Assistant State Public Defender Robert Peterson, didn’t object to Fink’s supervision revocation during either hearing.

Sexually Violent Predator Back in Custody for Allegedly Violating Terms, Conditions of His Release

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7-21-15 California:

A sexually violent predator is back in custody after he allegedly violated the terms and conditions of his release, the San Diego County District Attorney's office said.

Gary Snavely, 49, moved to Jacumba under a conditional release on Feb. 20 when Judge Louis Hanoian approved the move. He lived a mile away from Jacumba Elementary School.

On July 2, the diagnosed pedophile was removed from that residence and placed back into custody of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department for violations of his release.

Prior to his move into the Jacumba home, 10 letters opposing the placement were submitted, including one from San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob.

Sexual predator who moved to Walnut Creek violates parole, back in custody

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6-30-15 California:

WALNUT CREEK -- A sexually violent predator who moved into a Walnut Creek home earlier this year was back in custody for violating the terms of his parole, authorities said Tuesday.

Charles Christman returned last week to Coalinga State Hospital, a maximum-security psychiatric facility, a day after a parole violation notice was filed June 23 with Contra Costa County, Deputy District Attorney Andrea Tavenier said Tuesday.

Liberty Health Care, which oversees the release of the state's sexually violent predators, filed the notice.

Tavenier would not say exactly how Christman, 71, violated terms of his parole, but said his conduct did not involve a minor and it did not occur within Walnut Creek.

"None of the allegations that we are investigating have anything to do with a minor," she said. According to Tavenier, Christman's parole contains "many, many, many conditions" and any report of a violation requires a return to state custody until the matter is investigated and resolved.

Authorities re-evaluating procedures after convicted sex offender escapes; terrorizing Richmond neighborhood

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3-27-15 Virginia:

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - A day after a convicted sex offender escaped and lead police on a four-hour chase, authorities are looking at their procedures.

Robert Hanna faces multiple charges after police say he over powered a female guard and took off.

Friday, via video - Hanna had an initial appearance in court, his face still showing signs of cuts and scrapes as he tried to make his escape.

A judge made sure Robert Hanna wouldn't be going anywhere but behind bars- saying he wasn't eligible for bond.

That's little comfort to the Richmond neighborhood he terrorized:

Convicted sex offender escapes from Virginia treatment facility

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Update: Inmate, convicted sex offender captured after escaping custody Thursday

3-26-2015 Virginia:

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Authorities are searching for a convicted sex offender who escaped from a treatment facility in Richmond.

Police tell media outlets that 54-year-old Robert Hanna fled on foot around 8:23 a.m. Thursday after assaulting a guard at the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation.

The escape prompted two schools in the area to go on lockdown as precaution.

Texas Has Quite Literally Run Out of Places to House Violent Sexual Predators

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2-19-15 Texas:

According to the head of the bluntly-named Office of Violent Sex Offender Management, the agency has run out of room to house the worst of the worst sex offenders who have been sent to the state's controversial civil commitment program.

At least two convicts are currently finishing their sentences and are slated to enter the program by next week, agency director Marsha McLane warned the Senate Finance Committee yesterday. More than two dozen are set to enter the program by August. And there's nowhere to put them. McLane told lawmakers she's actively searching for places willing to house the offenders, but that, "everyone I've called, no one has come up with a building we can move into."

The program, which keeps convicts labeled by the state as sexually violent predators confined to halfway houses and boarding homes, supposedly aims to treat offenders classified as having "behavioral abnormalities" -- a legal construct more than it is an actual diagnosed condition.

Dogged reporting over the past year by Anita Hassan and Mike Ward at the Houston Chronicle has unearthed a number of glaring problems with the program. While the courts have allowed civil commitment programs in 19 other states, critics charge the Texas version is purely punitive, meant to keep offenders in custody indefinitely and therefore could be unconstitutional. And while the program was created by lawmakers in 1999 as a way to treat and transition offenders safely back into the community, not a single offender has completed the program in its nearly 16 year history.

Sex offenders back to prison to make room in treatment program

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2-15-15 Texas:

Short on room in treatment program, many convicted of minor rule violations

The state of Texas routinely sent sex offenders back to prison as new arrivals entered its "civil commitment" program, lacking funds to accommodate all of those being confined for what is supposed to be on-going treatment. ..Source.. sub req.. by Mike Ward and Anita Hassan

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Texas DPS most wanted sex offender Rubio caught

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1-12-2015 Texas:

BANDERA, Texas (AP) - A tip has led to the arrest of 1 of the Department of Public Safety's 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders at a home in Central Texas.

DPS says 55-year-old James Anthony Rubio was captured in Bandera, about 40 miles northwest of San Antonio.

Rubio was released from prison in April 2012 after serving 20 years for sexual assault. Investigators say Rubio last September cut off his ankle bracelet monitor and fled from the Travis County Residential Center in Del Valle.

Rubio, who was caught Monday, had outstanding warrants for failure to register as a sex offender, failure to comply with sex offender civil commitment requirements and a federal warrant for sex offense.

His criminal history includes aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, rape, attempted rape and making a terroristic threat. ..Source.. by Fox4News.com

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Police: Sex offender threatens peer, violates probation terms

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1-9-2015 Virginia:

A Richmond woman convicted of two counts of aggravated sexual battery against minors is scheduled to appear in March in Chesterfield County Circuit Court after being found in violation of the terms of her probation.

Judge Frederick G. Rockwell III found that Rose Marie Spain, 48, was in violation of the terms of her probation based on a Sept. 11 report issued by Spain’s probation officer, Melissa Kiniry.

Court records indicate that Spain pleaded no contest on March 28, 2006, to separate counts of aggravated sexual battery against two girls under the age of 13 with the offenses occurring between May 1 and Dec. 31, 2004.

Under the terms of her plea agreement, Spain was sentenced to 20 years in prison on each offense, with all but five years and six months of the total 40-year sentence suspended. She also was placed on supervised probation for an indefinite period following her release. Court records indicate that she was incarcerated following her arrest on May 29, 2005, and released on Feb. 15, 2011, to Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie for civil commitment as a sexually violent predator.

In her probation violation report, Kiniry stated that in August, Spain was suspended from sex offender treatment groups for one month.

“Ms. Spain violated group confidentiality by repeating statements made during treatment groups by a peer,” Kiniry wrote, adding that while on suspension, Spain also verbally threatened the peer, a woman who was also undergoing sex offender treatment.

Texas DPS most wanted sex offender Rubio caught

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11-24-2014 Texas:

BANDERA, Texas (AP) - A tip has led to the arrest of 1 of the Department of Public Safety's 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders at a home in Central Texas.

DPS says 55-year-old James Anthony Rubio was captured in Bandera, about 40 miles northwest of San Antonio.

Rubio was released from prison in April 2012 after serving 20 years for sexual assault. Investigators say Rubio last September cut off his ankle bracelet monitor and fled from the Travis County Residential Center in Del Valle.

Rubio, who was caught Monday, had outstanding warrants for failure to register as a sex offender, failure to comply with sex offender civil commitment requirements and a federal warrant for sex offense.

His criminal history includes aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, rape, attempted rape and making a terroristic threat. ..Source.. by FoxDFW.com

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Report: Texas never advised other states about 2 violent sex offenders, both back in prison

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9-28-2014 Texas:

Two violent sex offenders who served time in Texas and later moved elsewhere while under state oversight are back behind bars for committing similar crimes.

Both men were in a civil commitment program meant to keep high-risk sex offenders in Texas custody after they finish serving their prison terms, the Houston Chronicle (http://bit.ly/1uv2aZB ) reported Friday.

But Texas officials never alerted other states about Lloyd Wilson, who moved to Virginia, and Melvin Cody Whipple, who moved to Utah, both in 2004 the newspaper reported. The two men were later convicted of sex-related crimes in their new states and sent to prison, where they remained Saturday.

Marsha McLane, director of the Texas Office of Violent Sex Offender Management, said the agency was not aware of the two out-of-state convicts until last week.

"It's true we didn't know about those two offenders, until we found a discrepancy in the number we showed were on civil commitment and number (the prison system) showed," McLane told the newspaper. "We should have known about them."

Judge rules sex offender Cory Roberts didn’t violate probation

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8-26-2014 Washington:

A King County judge’s ruling has again freed a sex offender whose release in June from the state’s center for sexually violent predators concerned law enforcement and residents alike.

Cory Roberts, 37, was arrested late July after allegedly failing to disclose a romantic relationship to his community corrections officer. He was released from jail after a judge determined Aug. 15 that he had not violated his probation.

Roberts was convicted of sexually and physically assaulting a 3-year-old girl in 1990 when he was 13. He was babysitting the toddler in Benton County when the assault took place.


The girl suffered permanent brain damage and paralysis, as well as blindness in one eye and diminished sight in the other.

Four years later Roberts was convicted of third-degree rape for sexually assaulting two roommates while serving time at a King County juvenile facility while serving time for the 1990 crime.

He spent 11 years at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island before being released into Tacoma in June after two experts decided he didn’t meet the criteria to remain at the SCC. ..Source.. by Stacia Glenn

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Man escapes sex offender program Sunday

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UPDATE 8-8: Marshals arrest Iowa sex offender in Oklahoma.

8-3-2014 Iowa:

CHEROKEE (KWWL) - Authorities in northwest Iowa are looking for a 42-year-old man who escaped from a sex offender transition release program early Sunday. According to the Iowa Department of Human Services, he didn't return from his workplace and was last seen in the Storm Lake area.

Cory West is a white male, 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds. He was last seen wearing a short-sleeved, red T-shirt with a University of Oklahoma symbol on the front, denim pants and a blue medical wrap on his left wrist.

The courts of the Civil Commitment Unit for Sex Offenders (CCUSO) ordered West on the campus of the Cherokee Mental Health Institute in 2011. He became eligible for the transition release program in 2013.

For more information, the Iowa Department of Human Services can be contacted at 515-281-5454. ..Source.. by Ally Crutcher

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Man sentenced to 30 years for violation of civil commitment

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1-28-2014 Texas:

A Montgomery County jury convicted Bradton Dewayne Carter Thursday of the felony offense of violation of civil commitment.

Carter was sentenced to 30 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice – Institutional Division. The trial took place in the 435th state District Court of Judge Michael T. Seiler.

“Bradton Carter is clearly one of the worst of the worst – a violent sex offender who cannot follow the simple rules of civil commitment. Montgomery County is a safer place with Carter in prison, and that is exactly where he is headed,” said Brett Hobbs, trial prosecutor with the DA’s Office.

Under the Texas Health and Safety Code, a person is eligible for civil commitment if he or she has at least two prior convictions for violent sex offenses and poses a significant danger to the community if released from prison.

Once civilly committed, the person, labeled a sexually violent predator, is sent to a facility and given limited access to the public. The sexually violent predator is required to abide by many rules and regulations while living at the sex offender facility. Any violation of these rules is a crime, specifically a third-degree felony offense called violation of civil commitment.

In this case, Carter had two prior felony convictions for attempted sexual assault and indecency with a child and was therefore civilly committed in 2009. While in civil commitment, Carter failed to follow the rules and regulations placed upon him by the facility. Specifically, Carter physically and verbally assaulted a facility employee, failed to attend the required sex offender meetings, failed to give notice that he was leaving the facility and failed to operate his ankle GPS device properly. As a result, Carter was charged with violation of civil commitment.

After hearing the evidence at trial, the jury found Carter guilty. During the punishment phase, prosecutors introduced evidence to the jury showing he had two prior prison trips as well as many other offenses. This increased his range of punishment from two to 10 years in prison to a minimum 25 years up to 99 years or life in prison. After the punishment phase was concluded, the jury assessed his punishment at 30 years in prison. ..Source.. by The Courier

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Registered sex offender facing new charges

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12-2-2013 Texas:

A registered sex offender is facing new charges after he allegedly violated his course of treatment requirement.

Court documents state that William Jeffery Beasley was late to group meetings, failed to report income on two occasions, admitted to bringing contraband (cigarettes), failed to notify his program specialist that he was out of medication, failed to keep a polygraph log updated, convinced other group members to break program requirements and engaged in sexual contact with other inmates.

Due to his alleged behavior, Beasley was discharged from his civil commitment outpatient program on Nov. 22.

Beasley, 53, is charged with violation of a civil commitment requirement. He's being held without bond in the Harris County Jail.

His original civil commitment order was issued in 2001. Beasley has two prior convictions for failure to comply with sex registration requirements in 2004 and 2006. ..Source.. by Matt Aufdenspring

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Serial sex offender's escape draws attention to unique Texas law

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11-28-2013 Texas:

A serial rapist who was captured in Oklahoma after taking off from a Dallas halfway house will likely go back to prison for a very long time.

Robert Grunsfeld remains jailed in Oklahoma, but will soon be transferred to Dallas County and charged with violation of a civil commitment – a third degree felony.

He'll also likely be tried as a "habitual offender," which could send him back to prison for 99 years.

His case and his escape have drawn attention to a unique Texas law designed to keep sexual predators who have completed their sentences off the streets.

Grunsfeld, 51, was convicted in a series of violent rapes in 1989.

A state psychologist described an increasing violent pattern of "sexually sadistic behavior."

His original life sentence was overturned on appeal. Instead, he got 20 years. He was deemed too dangerous to release and transferred to a halfway house, the Dallas Transition Center, under what's called a "civil commitment."

There are 225 men housed in the privately run facility, but most are parolees. Only a dozen, like Grunsfeld, are there under civil commitments.

Texas Most Wanted Sex Offender Caught In Oklahoma

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11-27-2013 Texas:

A Texas top 10 most wanted sex offender has been caught, days after he cut his ankle bracelet and ran away from a Dallas halfway house.

Robert Grunsfeld, 51, removed his ankle monitor on Friday and was caught on Monday in McAlester, Oklahoma.

Authorities from the Pittsburg County Sheriff’s Office arrested Grunsfeld at a fast food restaurant at about 5 PM.

Grunsfeld has been convicted of six counts of sexual assault, three counts of carrying a prohibited weapon, burglary and fraud.

He had been sentenced to live at a halfway house as part of the civil commitment program.

A $3,000 reward was offered for tips leading to Grunsfeld’s arrest, but this arrest was not the result of a tip.

Grunsfeld is now being held in Oklahoma. ..Source.. by CBSDFW.COM

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Coalinga hospital inmate sentenced for child porn possession

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11-23-2013 California:

A 63-year-old man from Los Angeles was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison for possession of child pornography in the Coalinga State Hospital, the Fresno County District Attorney's office said Friday.

Ronald Rudd was found guilty on Nov. 12 of watching child pornography in his room using a hard drive hooked up to a computer monitor. He was in the state hospital because he was determined to be a sexually violent predator.

Rudd has three prior convictions for child molestation in 1989 and will not be eligible for parole for a minimum of 21 years and three months. ..Source.. by Jacob Rayburn

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Featured fugitive reward increased to $13,000

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8-1-2013 Texas:

Civil commitment sex offender fled from a Houston facility

USTIN – The reward for John Michael Enard, 59, a Texas 10 Most Wanted Sex Offender and this month’s featured fugitive, has increased to $13,000 for information leading to his capture if the tip comes in during the month of August. Enard removed his ankle monitor in January and fled from a Houston halfway house. He is considered a sexually violent predator and at high risk to reoffend. Texas Crime Stoppers tips are guaranteed to be anonymous.

Enard has family in Houston; Lafayette, Louisiana; and California. There have been reported sightings of Enard in Hammond, Arnaudville and Carencro, La.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Clovis, N.M. Anyone found to have been helping Enard avoid arrest will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He is wanted for parole violation and felony failure to comply with civil commitment requirements. His convictions include aggravated rape-sexual assault, burglary of habitation with intent to rape and burglary.

Enard is 6 feet tall and weighs approximately 155 pounds. For more details on his escape, criminal history and additional photos, view his wanted bulletin by following the link below this story.

One offender from the Texas 10 Most Wanted Program is featured each month in hopes the higher reward money from the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division will generate additional tips. The higher reward amount will only be paid if the tip comes in the same month the fugitive is featured. All calls, texts, emails and Facebook tip messages are anonymous.

Do not attempt to apprehend these fugitives; they are considered armed and dangerous. ..Source.. by Glen Rose Staff

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