A man attempting to obtain a Texas state identification card in El Paso turned out to be a convicted child sex abuse offender wanted on a 25-year-old warrant for failing to register, officials said.
Victor Manuel Nevarez, 49, was arrested by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office on June 16 on an active warrant from April 2001 for allegedly failing to comply with sex offender registration for more than two decades, stated a news release by sheriff’s spokeswoman Priscilla I. Contreras.
The warrant was so old that it predates the 9/11 terrorist attack of 2001, the creation of Facebook (2004) and from a time when current Sheriff Oscar Ugarte had yet to graduate from high school (Ysleta High, 2002).
“This arrest demonstrates our commitment to holding offenders accountable and ensuring compliance with sex offender registration laws, no matter how much time has passed,” Ugarte said in a statement.
Nevarez was arrested on June 16 after sheriff’s deputies received information from a Texas Department of Public Safety driver license office about a registered sex offender who appeared to be out of compliance and was attempting to get a state identification card.
The sheriff’s Sex Offender Registration and Tracking Unit, known as SORT, with assistance of Texas state troopers took Nevarez into custody without incident after determining he had allegedly failed to register as a sex offender.
Nevarez is being held at the El Paso County Jail Annex on a $7,500 bond. No attorney is listed for him on a court log.
Child molestation case dates back more than 25 years
The Texas DPS online sex offender registry lists Nevarez as a “moderate” risk level offender with a lifetime registration requirement on a quarterly basis.
El Paso County court records and the Texas DPS registry show Nevarez was indicted in 1998 at the age of 22 on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child involving a 5-year-old girl. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years probation in July 25, 2000. He had a lifetime registration requirement.
The state sex offender registry shows that his registration had been verified by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office on July 31, 2000, and only includes black-and-white photos of Nevarez from Oct. 5, 2000.
It is more than 25 years later until the next registry entry and photo — now with partially gray hair — when he was arrested last week.
It is unclear why Nevarez allegedly did not register and how he may avoided arrest by law enforcement since the issuance of a warrant in 2001.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: 25 years later, El Paso sex offender arrested trying to get Texas ID
Reporting by Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times | USA TODAY Network
