Sex offender arrested in Buckeye after allegedly harassing minor girl at bus stop

PHOENIX — A sex offender was arrested in Buckeye on Friday after he allegedly harassed a 12-year-old girl at a bus stop, authorities said.

The Buckeye Police Department identified the man as 48-year-old Adrian Villareal. Police noted that at the time of the incident, Villareal had an active warrant for failing to register as a sex offender.

In 1996, Villareal pleaded guilty to a charge of attempt to commit sexual assault, according to Maricopa County court records.

He later pleaded guilty to failing to register as sex offender in 2017 and again in 2019.

After being taken into custody, Villareal was booked into jail on the warrant and several other offenses, including misdemeanor assault and harassment charges.

What led to Villareal being arrested in Buckeye?

According to Buckeye PD, it received a report from a mom about a man a harassing her 12-year-old daughter while she was walking to a school bus stop near Baseline and Pima roads.

Officers responded and spoke with employees at a nearby daycare who told them that Villareal had been walking in the area trying to talk to the girl, so they brought her inside the daycare to wait for the bus.

Police said that an officer who was searching the area found Villareal less than half a mile away from the daycare, but he ran into a backyard near Seventh Avenue and Deniza Boulevard.

A brief standoff took place before Villareal was taken into custody, according to police.

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