October 7, 2005
‘Oprah’ segment leads to suspect
October 7, 2005
FARGO, N.D. — A convicted sex offender from Indiana named on the FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitives list has been arrested here.
William C. Davis, 33, of Wadesville, Ind., 15 miles northwest of Evansville, faces felony charges of molesting three Evansville area boys and failing to register as a sex offender.
Davis was arrested on Thursday and taken to the Cass County Jail, where he will await an extradition hearing to return to Indiana.
Authorities said he had been wanted on the felony charges for more than a year in both Vanderburgh and Posey counties.
A picture and details of Davis aired briefly on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” on Tuesday. The TV show focused on convicted sex offenders who victimized children again.
Winfrey’s production company Harpo Productions Inc. offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of any of the fugitives profiled on the program.
The profile of Davis prompted a Fargo woman to call another woman about it, said FBI Special Agent Paul McCabe of Minneapolis.
The second woman went to the Oprah.com Web site to look at Davis’ picture. She then called Minneapolis FBI agents about a man she knew as Mark A. Davis, McCabe said.
“Naturally, from there, we had some investigating to do,” he said.
The FBI investigation confirmed Davis’ background and led agents to Davis’ apartment at about 4:45 p.m. Thursday.
“Through a ruse, they were able to get him to come to the door,” McCabe said. “He actually denied who he was at first but finally admitted he was William C. Davis.”
Davis had shaved his head and was wearing a leg cast when arrested.
Fargo police also plan to investigate how long Davis lived in their city and what he was up to.
“We don’t want to be known as a haven for child molesters,” said Police Chief Chris Magnus.
Cass County Jail records show Davis said he was unemployed. He listed his mother, Pat Davis, as a contact person.
Davis told authorities he would decline all requests for interviews.
The latest Indiana charges stem from accusations Davis molested boys from January 2004 to July 2004, according to the FBI’s Web site.
The site, along with the Indiana sex offender registry, says Davis was convicted for two counts of child molestation in January 1992.
Prison officials released him about 28 months later, and Davis failed to follow Indiana’s sex offender registration laws. He disappeared in the summer of 2004, after learning that police in Evansville were looking for him. Local FBI agents investigated sightings of Davis, but never located him.
Indiana authorities asked the FBI to issue a warrant on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for the latest molestation accusations.
If convicted, Davis faces between 20 to 50 years on each of five Class A felony counts, two to eight years on each of five Class B felony counts and an enhanced sentence up to 38 additional years as a repeat sexual offender.
The Evansville Courier & Press reported Vanderburgh County Deputy Prosecutor Donita Farr said Davis was known as the “rubber band man” when he volunteered with a local social agency that offers mentoring programs to children.
He acquired the title because he made toys out of twisted rubber bands.
What agency officials didn’t know until later was that Davis allegedly used those rubber band toys to lure children into vacant homes where he tried to molest them, Farr told the newspaper.
Authorities said he had been wanted on the felony charges for more than a year in both Vanderburgh and Posey counties.
A picture and details of Davis aired briefly on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” on Tuesday. The TV show focused on convicted sex offenders who victimized children again.
Winfrey’s production company Harpo Productions Inc. offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of any of the fugitives profiled on the program.
The profile of Davis prompted a Fargo woman to call another woman about it, said FBI Special Agent Paul McCabe of Minneapolis.
The second woman went to the Oprah.com Web site to look at Davis’ picture. She then called Minneapolis FBI agents about a man she knew as Mark A. Davis, McCabe said.
“Naturally, from there, we had some investigating to do,” he said.
The FBI investigation confirmed Davis’ background and led agents to Davis’ apartment at about 4:45 p.m. Thursday.
“Through a ruse, they were able to get him to come to the door,” McCabe said. “He actually denied who he was at first but finally admitted he was William C. Davis.”
Davis had shaved his head and was wearing a leg cast when arrested.
Fargo police also plan to investigate how long Davis lived in their city and what he was up to.
“We don’t want to be known as a haven for child molesters,” said Police Chief Chris Magnus.
Cass County Jail records show Davis said he was unemployed. He listed his mother, Pat Davis, as a contact person.
Davis told authorities he would decline all requests for interviews.
The latest Indiana charges stem from accusations Davis molested boys from January 2004 to July 2004, according to the FBI’s Web site.
The site, along with the Indiana sex offender registry, says Davis was convicted for two counts of child molestation in January 1992.
Prison officials released him about 28 months later, and Davis failed to follow Indiana’s sex offender registration laws. He disappeared in the summer of 2004, after learning that police in Evansville were looking for him. Local FBI agents investigated sightings of Davis, but never located him.
Indiana authorities asked the FBI to issue a warrant on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for the latest molestation accusations.
If convicted, Davis faces between 20 to 50 years on each of five Class A felony counts, two to eight years on each of five Class B felony counts and an enhanced sentence up to 38 additional years as a repeat sexual offender.
The Evansville Courier & Press reported Vanderburgh County Deputy Prosecutor Donita Farr said Davis was known as the “rubber band man” when he volunteered with a local social agency that offers mentoring programs to children.
He acquired the title because he made toys out of twisted rubber bands.
What agency officials didn’t know until later was that Davis allegedly used those rubber band toys to lure children into vacant homes where he tried to molest them, Farr told the newspaper.