PA- Wanted sex offender found online

1-28-2009 Pennsylvania:

YORK — A convicted sex offender has been found after seven months in hiding — the break in the case came when information on his Facebook profile indicated where he was.

On May 4, 2008, Justin Soukup, 20, of York was supposed to be sentenced for sexually assaulting a York County girl who was under the age of 15. He was looking at a possible 1-20 years in prison. However, he didn’t show up for the proceedings.

At that point, York County District Judge Alan Gless issued a bench warrant for his arrest and York County Attorney Tim Sieh added a second charge to the list — felony failure to appear, which could result in five more years in prison.

Months passed by and law enforcement officials were unable to locate Soukup. That’s until it was discovered that Soukup actually posted information about his whereabouts on his Facebook profile, making it quite clear where he was living — at least to his online audience.

The News-Times has been told by the father of the victim (who will remain unnamed in order to protect the identity of the minor girl) that he began his own investigation and went online. He said that’s when he discovered Soukup’s Facebook profile, which actually included indications that he was living in South Dakota. The victim’s father said he then contacted law enforcement in that particular jurisdiction and in York County, explaining the situation and providing the electronic information he had discovered.

“They later called me back and said they were able to locate him,” the victim’s father said. “I was relieved to hear they had him in custody and he’ll be coming back here for sentencing.”

York County Sheriff Dale Radcliff said that once Soukup was taken into custody, law enforcement officials in Rapid City, S.D., contacted his department to let them know he’d been arrested.

“My understanding is that at one time, he’d been living in Yankton and that he was wanted for other crimes in South Dakota,” Sheriff Radcliff said. “Right now, we have a hold on him and we’re waiting for him to be extradited back to York County.”

In this jurisdiction, Soukup was originally charged with two Class 2 felonies (both first degree sexual assault of a child, with two separate victims). Those were amended to one Class 3 felony, attempted first degree sexual assault. ..News Source.. by