27 Arizona fugitives arrested in US Marshal’s ‘Operation Adam’s Watch’ bust

The U.S. Marshals Service completed a multiweek enforcement operation that ended with 27 Arizona fugitives arrested for sex offenses, authorities said Monday.

“Operation Adam’s Watch” was named to recognize 20 years since the signing of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which is focused on identifying, locating and apprehending noncompliant sex offenders.

Arizona investigators targeted 186 sex offenders and completed 116 compliance checks, according to the USMS. That resulted in the arrests of 12 fugitives who failed to register as sex offenders and 15 arrested who were wanted for sexual assault or other sex crimes.

One of the sex offenders arrested was Clearance Martin, 57, who had allegedly not registered himself and was now wanted on new charges of two counts of sexual conduct with a minor, child molestation and sexual assault.

The USMS worked with the Apache Junction Police Department on the Arizona WANTED Violent Offender Task Force to discover the fugitive fled to Tyler, Texas, where he had family ties. He was arrested at an auto shop.

The same task force was part of a separate investigation that apprehended John Lincoln Sperry, who was arrested in a 2004 cold case earlier this month.

“The USMS, having a robust network of federal, state and local partners, was the logical choice to implement the Adam Walsh Act,” Gadyaces Serralta, the U.S. Marshals Service Director, said in a news release. “We are the best in the world at finding people. We have the tools and the talent no one else has. When the Adam Walsh Act became law, it made sense for us, along with our partners, to make sure noncompliant sex offenders are back off the streets and not a threat to those who could become victims.”

The Arizona arrests were part of the “Operation Adam’s Watch” bust that spanned 37 federal judicial districts and geographical areas and resulted in more than 330 fugitive arrests nationwide. There were 12 different Arizona agencies participating in the operation.

“As we observe Adam Walsh Remembrance Day and the 20th anniversary of the Adam Walsh Act, I’m reminded that my brother’s legacy isn’t defined by what happened to him, but by the lives that continue to be protected because people refused to let his story end in tragedy,” Callahan Walsh, executive director of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, said in the release. “Every time the U.S. Marshals Service apprehends an offender who threatens children and every time NCMEC helps law enforcement recover a missing child or support an investigation, we’re carrying that legacy forward.

“Together, we’re proving that the strongest tool we have to protect children is partnership.”

Adam Walsh was a 6-year-old boy who was abducted and killed in 1981. John and Revé Walsh, Adam’s parents, founded the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in 1984 to provide resources for families with missing children.

Related

Park City-based fitness, retail and social space celebrates grand opening in PhoenixArizona events give residents chance to adopt trained, untrained wild burrosMeghan McCain says brother has ‘no interest in public office’ after turning down Lt. governor roleArizona utilities shatter energy demand records amid extreme heatInvestigation underway after 2 people were found dead inside Phoenix apartmentOut-of-state fugitive arrested after fatal stabbing in Phoenix