Convicted Pedo Caught After 30 Years On The Run –

[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]

One of Oregon’s most wanted escaped fugitives has finally been caught after nearly 30 years on the run — and the way police found him is stomach-churning…

Back in 1994, Steven Craig Johnson made an escape from the Mill Creek Correctional Facility, as reported by the Oregon Department of Corrections. The then-40-year-old was serving a sentence for sexual abuse and attempted sodomy — crimes committed against a child. It isn’t clear when he was originally arrested or how long he’d been serving time, but a 2019 bulletin listed a disturbing caution to anyone who may come across the man over the years which read:

“Based on his record, Fugitive Johnson is a pedophile and presents a high probability of victimizing pre-teen boys. Fugitive Johnson should not be allowed contact with children.”

Scary…

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Law enforcement spent the past three decades trying to find the escapee to no avail — that is, until now. The convicted pedophile is no longer a free man after authorities finally tracked him down across the country in Georgia. According to a statement from the US Marshals Service, on Tuesday the now-70-year-old criminal was found living in an apartment complex in Macon, and was promptly arrested after his true identity was confirmed.

How they found him, though? It all connected back to a case of identity theft. According to the USMS, back in 1995 — a year after his escape — Johnson obtained the birth certificate of a boy named William Cox who died in 1962. From there, he used the stolen identity to get a social security number in Texas, then eventually a drivers license in Georgia.

This convicted pedo was using the name of a dead child in order to dodge police. Just disgusting! And to make matters worse, he was living comfortably in the apartment complex under this deceased kid’s name since 2011!

Neighbors had no idea what kind of monster they were living next to, as they spoke to Oregon Live about his arrest. April Walker said:

“He was a very nice man. Everyone liked him.”

Meanwhile neighbor Larry Crowe spoke to WGXA about Johnson, saying he was a very private person:

“He didn’t you know associate with many people. He’d walk and go back to his apartment. He’d get his groceries all delivered like Walmart and stuff. He ain’t ever mingle too much with people. I had no idea. I mean you don’t ever know. I had no idea he’d been escaped for 30 years and a pedophile. It just goes to show. Everybody here is just flabbergasted.”

Thankfully police were able to catch up with him, but what a travesty he was free for 30 years before they caught him! Out there in the world where no one knew what he was capable of… Ugh.

What do U think about this case, Perezcious readers? Let us know (below).

If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org.

[Image via Oregon Department of Corrections/Bibb County Sheriff’s Office]

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