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Putnam County Sex Offender Facing New Charges in New York, Florida, and Nevada
Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith reports that a registered sex offender from Putnam County is facing felony charges in three states after he violated his probation and absconded to Las Vegas with his mother’s stolen credit card. Mr. James Joseph Wood, aged 38, had been living with his mother in Putnam Valley since his release in June 2003 from a Florida prison, where he served a sentence for a sexual assault on a tenyear old girl.
Upon moving from Florida to New York after his prison term, Mr. Wood was adjudicated as a “Level 3” sex offender under the New York Sex Offender Registration Act, which is commonly referred to as “Megan’s Law”. A Level 3 designation means that an offender is deemed to be a “sexual predator” who poses a high risk to the community of committing a repeat offense.
Under the authority of the Act, the Sheriff’s Department notified the community of Mr. Wood’s presence upon his arrival in Putnam Valley. Sheriffs deputies and investigators went door to door at homes in and around the neighborhood where he lived, and circulated notices with his photograph and identifying information about him to schools and other public places throughout the County. Information about Mr. Wood can be obtained from the Sheriff’s Department.
Under the Act, Mr. Wood was required to verify that he was still at his address every ninety days and to report any address change to the Sex Offender Registry in Albany within ten days. In addition to those requirements, the State of Florida imposed various probation conditions upon Mr. Wood.
According to the Putnam County Probation Department, Mr. Wood submitted to all required provisions of his probation from June 2003 until about two weeks ago when he failed to show up at a mandatory counseling session and left the area without permission.
The Probation Department notified Florida authorities and advised the Sheriff’s Department about Mr. Wood’s actions. The Sheriffs Department broadcasted a bulletin across the nationwide law enforcement computer network alerting all points that Mr. Wood was at large.
As the search for Mr. Wood was underway, the Sheriffs Department received a complaint from the suspect’s mother, Ms. Carolyn Lewis, who reported that her son had stolen a credit card from her before absconding from the Putnam Valley residence they had shared. Ms. Lewis discovered the theft of the card when the issuing bank called her on November 1st and asked her about some unusual charges made on the card in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Sheriffs Department obtained an arrest warrant for Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree from the Putnam Valley Justice Court, charging Mr. Wood with the theft of his mother’s credit card.
Sheriffs investigators then coordinated with the FBI and the Las Vegas Metro Police Department for assistance in locating the fugitive. Those agencies issued bulletins to their respective agents and officers in the Las Vegas area. At about 7:15 am on Thursday, November 3rd, a Las Vegas police officer on patrol spotted Mr. Wood driving his pickup. Las Vegas officers pulled the suspect over and took him into custody without incident.
Las Vegas police charged Mr. Wood as a fugitive from justice. In addition, Mr. Wood was charged with violating the Nevada sex offender registration statute for failing to timely report his arrival in that jurisdiction.
The New York, Florida and Nevada charges are all felonies. Mr. Wood also faces a potential misdemeanor count in New York for failing to timely report to the Sex Offender Registry in Albany about his movement from the Putnam Valley address.
Mr. Wood is currently being held in the Clark County Detention Facility in downtown Las Vegas. He is awaiting a court hearing on the Nevada charge and an extradition hearing on the fugitive warrants from Florida and New York. If the defendant waives formal extradition proceedings, he will be brought back to Putnam County to answer the local charges before being transferred back to the State of Florida to answer the probation violation count lodged there.
Sheriff Smith lauded what he described as “outstanding cooperation” between agencies in achieving Mr. Wood’s capture. “The Putnam County Probation Department’s quick notice to the Sheriff’s Department about the suspect’s activities, the coordinated action of parole and probation authorities in Florida, the fine investigative work of Sheriffs deputies and investigators, and the assistance of the FBI and Las Vegas officials was a total team effort directed toward a common goal.”
“That goal,” continued the Sheriff, “was of critical importance-to apprehend and bring to justice a man adjudged to be a high risk sexual predator, and to do it fast because every child or other vulnerable person along his route was potentially in danger of being victimized. Thanks to the cooperative efforts of the agencies involved in this case, the offender is now in custody and, because of that, our Putnam community and the broader community are safer places today.”
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