Another 'Most Wanted' Sex Offender Captured

A fourth member of the Massachusetts State Police Ten Most Wanted Sex Offender List is in custody today after Massachusetts troopers directed Florida police to the suspect's location.

Officers from the Lee County (Fla.) Sheriff's Office arrested ROBERT H. GRIGGS JR., 51, at the Green Wave Motel on Palm Beach Boulevard in Fort Myers this morning. Sheriff's deputies were directed to the location after Trooper Steve McDonald of the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section developed information that GRIGGS may be staying at a motel on or near Palm Beach Boulevard.

GRIGGS, who is classified as a high risk Level 3 offender by the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board, 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.

Massachusetts State Police VFAS troopers initially developed information that GRIGGS had fled Fitchburg with is girlfriend for Cocoa, Fla. Troopers further learned that GRIGGS left the Cocoa area about one month ago, and that he and his girlfriend were living at a series of motels. In the last few days, intelligence directed police efforts to the Green Wave Motel on Palm Beach Boulevard, and Lee County deputies set up surveillance on the motel this morning. They arrested GRIGGS in Room 5.

GRIGGS is being booked at the Lee County jail and will be held pending his rendition to Worcester County to answer to the failure to register warrant.
GRIGGS is the fourth 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 week. Last week, Level 3 offenders CAESAR J. DELGADO, STEVEN M. HESCOCK, and FRANKLIN C. MILLER were captured.

DELGADO, 44, was arrested Friday 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.

Also last Friday, 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, was arrested Thursday 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 remaining members of the list being sought by State Police are:

• MICHAEL V. MARTINEZ, 38, previously convicted of rape and abuse of a child and failure to register as a sex offender and currently wanted by the Lawrence Police Department for failure to register as a sex offender;
• SAMUEL HARPER JR., 46, previously convicted for multiple counts of both rape of a child with force and assault to rape and currently wanted by the Massachusetts State Police for failure to register as a sex offender;
• ELWOOD J. JOHNSON, 54, previously convicted in Washington state for rape of a child and currently wanted by the Worcester Police Department for failure to register as a sex offender;
• STEVEN MICHAEL COOPER, 43, previously convicted in Georgia of rape and currently wanted by the Springfield Police Department for failure to register as a sex offender and rape;
• CARLOS I. BELTRAN, 44, previously convicted of indecent assault and battery and currently wanted by the Haverhill Police Department indecent assault and battery, failure to register as a sex offender, and violation of an abuse prevention order; and
• MICHAEL O. KELLY, 34, previously convicted in Massachusetts of indecent assault and battery on a child and in New Jersey of failure to register as a sex offender and currently wanted by the Boston Police Department for indecent assault and battery on a child and failure to register as a sex offender.

Wanted posters for all of the state's Most Wanted Sex Offenders can be viewed at www.mass.gov/msp/wanted/sexoffenders/wanted-sexoffenders.htm. Anyone with information about the location of the Most Wanted Sex Offenders is asked to call Massachusetts State Police at (508) 820-2121 or 1-800-KAPTURE (1-800-527-8873).

In 2010, the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section arrested nearly 3,000 fugitives and cleared nearly 4,000 arrest warrants. Among those arrested by the 26-member unit in 2010 were nearly 300 fugitives who had committed sexual assaults, nearly 400 who had committed firearms offenses, approximately 800 who had committed assaults, more than 1,000 suspects wanted for narcotics crimes, and five accused murderers.