Crime Time

Texas fugitive charged with murder, sex crimes with children

In Texas, Daniel U. Perez became a fugitive after being convicted in the 1990s of sex crimes against children. Now, the 52-year-old has been arrested in Kansas, accused of murder, rape and multiple counts of sex crimes against children, according to The Wichita Eagle. Police say Perez lived on a compound, where he murdered a 26-year-old woman who also lived there. He also faces 36 other charges including rape of a 10-year-old, sodomy of a 10-year-old and sexual exploitation of an 8-year-old, the newspaper reports. Neighbors have told police that an unusual number of deaths have been associated with Perez. In Texas, Perez was convicted in1997 of of multiple counts of felony indecency with a child but fled before sentencing.  

Fugitive Texas doctor released despite international arrest warrant

Dr. German Enrique Moreno was convicted in Costa Rica of sexually abusing minors in the 1990s and instead of serving his sentence fled to Texas, where he began to practice medicine. But after his arrest here in 2005 on suspicion of sexually abusing minors, he returned to Costa Rica and opened a medical clinic, a news organization there has reported. Despite a new charge of sexual abuse of a minor, his history of fleeing  and an international arrest warrant for him, Costa Rica authorities have released him from preventive detention, the Tico Times reports.  The Houston Press wrote a long piece about the serial child molester, who was a church choir leader in Texas. - Staff report

Thousands added to rewards for 2 Texas fugitives

Since 2004, Charles Edwin Klein of Dallas has been on the run from police. Now, an extra $5,000 has been added to the reward for information leading to his arrest. The 53-year-old is wanted by the Dallas County Sheriff's Office for failure to register as a sex offender and for parole violations. Klein was convicted in the aggravated sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl in 1984 and convicted of indecency with a child in 1991 after he exposed himself to a 16-year-old boy.

 

The reward also has been increased for information leading to the arrest of Jesus Alberto Villegas of Abilene, making tipsters eligible for up to $12,500 cash. The 31-year-old disappeared in 1998 and is wanted for sexual assault of a child and probation violation. His criminal history also includes possession of a prohibited weapon (a sawed-off rifle) and felony theft. He is considered armed and dangerous.  

To provide an anonymous tip, call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477). Or you can text the letters DPS, followed by your tip, to 274637 (CRIMES) from your cell phone, or submit a tiip through the DPS website by selecting the fugitive you have information about and then clicking on the link under their photo. - Staff report

Costa Rica arrests doctor charged with child molestation in Texas

After Dr. German Moreno was arrested in 2005 on charges ranging from indecency with a child to sexual assault, he fled Texas. Since then, he's been operating a medical clinic in a tourism spot in Costa Rica, his native country, an investigation by the newspaper The Tico Times revealed. Now, Moreno has been arrested after a teen came forward in Costa Rica to say that Moreno had molested him. Costa Rica won't allow Texas to bring Moreno to trial here, though, saying the country's law shield him from extradition, Reuters reports.  Moreno had worked as a family doctor in the Houston area.

Help bag a bad guy, collect thousands

DPS is upping the reward for information on two of the state's most wanted fugitives. Provide information leading to the arrest of Gwen Komahcheet of Spring, Texas, and collect $12,500. This is one dangerous dude, though.

The 60-year-old is wanted for aggravated rape with a deadly weapon. His criminal history in Texas, Oklahoma and California includes rape with a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, vehicle theft, drunk driving and on and on.

After being convicted in 1979 in Dallas for sexual assault with a deadly weapon, he got a 75-year prison sentence. But he got paroled in 2004, then disappeared. He's considered armed and dangerous.

The other fugitive is Mark Steven Bauman, 50, of Austin. He's wanted for possession of child pornography, improper photography, failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements and more. DPS notes that he speaks Spanish fluently.

Information leading to his arrest will bring an $8,000 reward. You can report them anonymously. Here's how: Call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477).

Or text the letters DPS followed by your tip to 274637 (CRIMES) from a cell phone; or file the tip at the DPS website by selecting the fugitive you have information about.

Homeless sex offender arrested for failing to notify police he moved out of dumpster

A homeless convicted sex offender was arrested by Albuquerque police after failing to notify them that he moved out of the dumpster he listed as his address.

The Associated Press reports that Charles Mader is required by law to give the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department a physical address and violated his sex offender registration requirement when he failed to report that he moved out of the trash bin within 10 days.

Deputies caught up with Mader at a homeless shelter and arrested him.

Mader told an Albuquerque TV news reporter that he wasn't familiar with some of the registration rules but the sheriff's department told AP reporters that they've reminded Mader what the rules were on several occasions.

If Mader fails to register for a third time, he could face up to three years in jail.

-Chance Welch

Maine hypnotist sentenced for unlawful sex with teenage girl

A Maine man who allegedly used his work as a hypnotist to keep a teenage girl silent about their sexual encounters has been sentenced to six years in prison.

The Associated Press reports that Aaron Patton, 38, was sentenced Monday after he was convicted for four counts of gross sexual assault of the girl, now 17.

Patton first came into contact with the girl when she was 12 to treat her compulsion to bite her nails. After he started having sexual encounters with her when she was 14, prosecutors alleged that he would hypnotize her to make her feel more at ease about it.

He was also sentenced to four years for unlawful sexual contact and counts of sexual abuse of a minor but these charges were suspended.

-Chance Welch

Convicted sex offender arrested at Montana Easter egg hunt after spotted by victim

An Easter egg hunt in Montana turned into a painful reminder for the victim of a sexual assault almost twenty years ago when she spotted the man behind the attack.

The Associated Press reports that 67-year-old William Harvey Suthers was arrested Saturday afternoon at the event in East Missoula after he was spotted by a female victim who was 10 at the time she told police that Suthers assaulted her while babysitting her and her brother in 1992.

Suthers was convicted on two counts of sexual assault and given a suspended sentence in 1998, forbidding him from having any contact with anyone under the age of 18 except for his sons.

-Chance Welch

Sex offender surrenders to TV reporter during live broadcast

Television viewers in Los Angeles on Thursday got to see something pretty unusual -- a wanted sex offender surrendering to a KTLA reporter during a live broadcast.

Authorities said that Valentino Rodriguez Jr., a conviced sex offender, had cut off his ankle monitor on Monday and gone missing. When he turned himself in to reporter Eric Spillman on live TV, Rodriguez said he wanted to "do the appropriate thing," KTLA reported.

Rodriguez said that he had become paranoid and cut the ankle monitor off for that reason, the station reported.

-- Lance Murray

DPS names Texas Top 10 Sex Offenders

The Texas Department of Public Safety has launched a Texas Top 10 Sex Offender list which includes three fugitives from the Metroplex.

They are David Ross Baxley, 67, Rowlett; Robert A. Davis III, 66, Irving; and Jose Luis Lopez, 66, Grand Prairie.

Also included is Dallas Wayne Waddell, 45, Whitney.

Anyone with information that leads to the arrest of any of these people may be eligible for a $1,000 reward.

-- Bill Miller