Man arrested for sex crimes was on probation for similar conviction

A man from Allegheny County who was convicted of sex crimes against a 6-year-old boy on a cruise ship in December 2009 was arrested again earlier this month after he was accused of offering candy to another child. When confronted at the Carnegie Science Center by staff and police, the man lied and said he was the child’s grandfather. The 76-year-old Findlay Township man was arrested and charged with providing false identification to an officer, corruption of a minor, unlawful contact with a minor, and theft of services, according to the man’s federal probation officer. According to the probation officer, “the charges stem from the offender offering candy to a child…When [he] was approached by the [Carnegie Science Center] staff, he reported to them that he was the child’s grandfather. After the police were contacted, the offender provided a false name.” Upon arrest, it was also found that the man in question had failed to update his living status, since moving from Independence to Findlay, with the PA State Police Megan’s Law unit. In addition, the man failed to attend his court-ordered sex offender treatment meetings, according to the probation officer’s petition to revoke the man’s probation. Upon receiving the petition, United States District Judge Gustave Diamond issued a federal arrest warrant for the man and has ordered him to be held without bail. In July 2011, the man pleaded guilty to the December 2009 incident after traveling to Florida to take a cruise and admittedly hoping to befriend and have sexual encounters with boys. Police say the man fondled a 6-year-old boy when the two of them were in an unattended hot tub. Upon his arrest, the man asked a judge for leniency because of his age and health. The man was jailed to the fullest extent of the law—four years, nine months—and, with time already served, was released from prison this past December, beginning fifteen years of probation. This most recent incident occurred not even two months after the man’s release from jail. If you have questions about sex crimes, please call Gary Gerson at 412-219-6875 today. Source: TribLive.com, “Molester accused of offering candy to child at Carnegie Science Center” 4 February 2015