As the Worcester Telegram & Gazette is reporting, the recent state police crackdown on Massachusetts sex offenders has netted several individuals on the State Police’s top list.
A Fitchburg man on the state police 10 most-wanted sex offender list was arrested Wednesday morning in Florida.
Robert H. Griggs Jr., 51, was arrested at the Green Wave Motel on Palm Beach Boulevard in Fort Myers.
Mr. Griggs is a Level 3 sex offender wanted by the Fitchburg Police Department for failure to register with the state as a sex offender. Mr. Griggs is a multistate offender with a lengthy criminal history in Massachusetts dating back more than 15 years, according to police.
In 1994, he was convicted in Massachusetts for open and gross misconduct and lewd and lascivious behavior, and in 1995, he was convicted in Texas for aggravated sexual assault on a child.
Deputies from the Lee County sheriff’s office in Florida found Mr. Griggs after Trooper Steve McDonald of the Massachusetts State Police violent fugitive apprehension section learned he might be staying at a motel on or near Palm Beach Boulevard, according to a news release.
The state police initially learned that Mr. Griggs had fled Fitchburg with his girlfriend for Cocoa, Fla., but later learned that he had left the Cocoa area about a month ago, and that he and his girlfriend were living at a series of motels. Mr. Griggs was booked at the Lee County jail and is being held pending his rendition to Worcester County.
Mr. Griggs is classified as at a high risk of re-offending by the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry.
This is the second arrest in about a week of a Fitchburg man listed on the 10 most-wanted sex offender list.
Child rapist Franklin D. (Campbell) Miller, 33, with a listed address of 466 Kimball St., Apt. 3L, Fitchburg, was arrested Feb. 3.
State police said Mr. Miller was arrested at a shelter on Stanhope Street in Boston. He was eating lunch when state troopers found him shortly before 1 p.m.
State police said their information indicated that he spent the night of Feb. 2 at the home of a friend in Boston’s Back Bay. He was taken to Fitchburg District Court for arraignment.
Mr. Miller is charged with a subsequent offense of failing to register with the state’s sex offender registry.
He was convicted in 1997 of raping a child and has a five-page criminal history.
Fitchburg Police Officer Brian Rouleau, in charge of the sex offender registry for Fitchburg, called the state police violent fugitive apprehension unit July 14 when he discovered Mr. Miller had moved out of his apartment on Kimball Street a week before. He had not registered with the state’s sex offender registry at the time as required by state law and had not provided police with a valid phone number.
He is scheduled back in court March 3 for a pretrial hearing.
Mr. Griggs is the fourth member on the 10 most-wanted sex offender list to be captured since the list was updated by state police and the Sex Offender Registry Board last week.
Last week, Level 3 offenders Caesar J. Delgado and Steven M. Hescock were arrested.
Mr. Delgado was arrested last Friday in Central Falls, R.I., after Massachusetts State Police learned he was staying in an apartment there. He is wanted by state police and the Lowell Police Department on four counts each of rape of a child with force and indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, and failure to register as a sex offender. His registration is required by a 1999 conviction for indecent assault on a child. He was previously arrested in October, but fled a month later after cutting off his GPS monitoring bracelet.
Also last Friday, Mr. Hescock, 34, was captured by Massachusetts troopers at a relative’s house in Revere. He was wanted by Revere police for failure to register as a sex offender and larceny, and by Medford police for larceny. His registration as a sex offender is required by a 1994 conviction for rape.
The failure to register as a sex offender is a serious crime in Massachusetts with devastating consequences. If you have questions regarding your Massachusetts sex offender classification or are already a registered Massachusetts sex offender who wants assistance in reviewing or challenging his or her classification, or to request further information, you need a Boston sex offender attorney. Please contact Attorney Crouch at (617) 441-5111 or email him to set up a free, initial consultation. To request further information please contact us.
