A local news site is reporting that the active State Police investigation into the whereabouts of unregistered sex offenders has netted another arrest.
A fifth member of the Massachusetts State Police Ten Most Wanted Sex Offenders list is in custody today after Massachusetts troopers directed a task force in the Pacific Northwest to the suspect’s location.
Police arrested ELWOOD J. JOHNSON, 54, this afternoon at an apartment at 903 Union St. in Seattle. In recent days, Trooper Carlos Rivera of the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section had developed information that JOHNSON may be at that address. Trooper Rivera contacted the Pacific Northwest Fugitive Apprehension Task Force, a combination of local and state officers and United States Marshals, and directed them to JOHNSON’s potential location. Task Force members found him there today and took him into custody.
JOHNSON is currently being booked and is expected to be arraigned at the King County Superior Court in Seattle later today. Massachusetts authorities will work with their counterparts in Washington state to arrange for JOHNSON’s rendition to answer to his charges here.
JOHNSON was previously convicted in Washington state in 1992 for rape of a child and is currently wanted by the Worcester Police Department for failure to register as a sex offender. He is also the subject of a warrant out of the state of Georgia for failure to register.
JOHNSON is the fifth member of the Top Ten Most Wanted Sex Offender List to be captured since the list was updated by State Police and the Sex Offender Registry Board last month. In February, Level 3 offenders CAESAR J. DELGADO, STEVEN M. HESCOCK, FRANKLIN C. MILLER and ROBERT GRIGGS JR. were captured.
GRIGGS was arrested at a motel in Fort Myers, Florida, after Massachusetts troopers learned he had been living in a series of motels in that state. GRIGGS is wanted by the Fitchburg Police Department for failure to register as a sex offender as required by law. GRIGGS was required to register because of a 1994 conviction in Massachusetts for open and gross misconduct and lewd and lascivious behavior and a 1995 conviction in Texas for aggravated sexual assault on a child.
DELGADO, 44, was arrested in Central Falls, R.I. after Massachusetts State Police learned he was staying in an apartment there. DELGADO 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, as well as for failure to register as a sex offender. His registration is required by a 1999 conviction for indecent assault on a child. DELGADO had been previously arrested last October but fled a month later after cutting off the GPS monitoring bracelet.
HESCOCK, 34, was captured by Massachusetts troopers at a relative’s house Revere. HESCOCK is 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.
MILLER, 33, at a Boston shelter. He was wanted by Fitchburg Police for failure to register as a sex offender. His registration was required by a 1997 conviction for rape of a child.
All members of the list of Most Wanted Sex Offenders have been classified as Level 3 Sex Offenders by the state’s Sex Offender Registry Board.
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.
