U.S. Marshals Charge Convicted Out of State Sex Offender for Violation of Adam Walsh Act Located and arrested in Monroe County

Scranton, PA – Today, United States Marshal Martin Pane announced the arrest of Barry Page, a 44-year old man registered as a convicted sex offender in Patterson, New Jersey.

On June 29, 1998, Page was convicted of Sexual Assault in the 2nd Degree in Passaic County, New Jersey. This conviction required Page to register as a sex offender. He last registered in August of 2012, when he provided a home address in Patterson, New Jersey. Page was also supervised by the New Jersey State Parole Board. Those officials learned that Page moved from his last known registered address without notifying law enforcement and - on February 8, 2013 – the New Jersey State Parole Board issued a warrant for Page’s arrest.

New Jersey parole officials requested the United States Marshals Service (USMS) in Newark to locate Page. Deputy Marshals from that office learned that Page may have moved to East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, but failed to notify New Jersey authorities. Deputy Marshals based in Scranton investigated and confirmed that Page lived in the 300 block of Hollow Road in East Stroudsburg. It was also determined that Page failed to register as a sex offender with Pennsylvania authorities.

On March 26, 2014, U.S. Marshals in Scranton obtained a federal arrest warrant for Page. It is alleged that Page violated the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 in that, as a convicted sex offender, he failed to update his registration upon relocating from New Jersey to Pennsylvania.

On March 26th, at about 12:30pm, Deputy Marshals approached Page’s suspected address and saw him run from the home. Page was caught a short distance from the home and taken into custody. He was transported to the United States Courthouse in Scranton, where he was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas M. Blewitt for failing to register as a convicted sex offender. U.S. Magistrate Judge Blewitt ordered that Page be held in custody, pending further federal court proceedings.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 designated the U. S. Marshals Service as the federal agency responsible for helping local and state authorities locate and arrest convicted sex offenders who fail to comply with their Megan’s Law requirements. The Act additionally designated the USMS as the lead law enforcement agency authorized to investigate and charge convicted sex offenders who move across state lines and fail to re-register.

“This is exactly the type of case our legislators had in mind -- convicted sex offenders who flee from state to state to avoid their registration requirements -- when they assigned the apprehension of sex offenders to the U.S. Marshals,” said Martin J. Pane, U.S. Marshal for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

U.S. Marshals were assisted in this case by personnel from the Pennsylvania State Police Megan’s Law Section. In the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the case has been assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Olshefski.