Fugitive Sex Offender Arrested After 10 Months on the Lam

Concord, NH - This morning, the U.S. Marshals – Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested fugitive, Michael Gillen at a Sarasota, Florida residence. Michael Gillen, 33, was wanted by the Hampton, New Hampshire Police Department for failing to maintain his sex offender registration. Gillen is required to register as a sex offender due to his 2001 convictions in Rockingham County Superior Court for six (6) counts of felonious sexual assault on a victim between the ages of 13-16, with an age difference greater than three years, as well as 14 counts of possession of child pornography (under age 16). Mr. Gillen is considered to be a tier 3 sex offender, which is considered to be the most likely to re-offend.

Gillen had been featured as the U.S. Marshals, “Fugitive of the Week” back on September 9, 2015. The “Fugitive of the Week” is aired each Wednesday on WTPL-FM, WMUR-TV, The Union Leader, The Nashua Telegraph, The Patch, Foster’s Daily Democrat, Manchester Information, The Manchester Ink Link and prominently featured on the internet. This program has been a remarkably successful tool that has resulted in the location and arrest of numerous fugitives since its implementation in 2007.

The “Fugitive of the Week” feature produced several tips in the Gillen case since September. The most recent tips were pointing to the Sarasota, Florida area, where Gillen was living under an assumed name of Michael Allen. After extensive research and investigation, the task force was able to zero in on Gillen’s location this morning. When Gillen was arrested, he used the name of Michael Allen, but quickly admitted to his true identity as Michael Gillen.

Gillen was transported to the Sarasota County Jail, where he will be processed and held as a fugitive from justice on the outstanding Hampton, NH arrest warrant.

U.S. Marshal David Cargill, Jr., said “The purpose of the sex offender registry is to help protect our children from offenders like Gillen, who are deemed likely to re-offend.” Cargill continued, “The U.S. Marshals Service takes great pride in tracking down these fugitives as they attempt to hide from the law.”

Since the inception of the New Hampshire Joint Fugitive Task Force in 2002, these partnerships have resulted in over 6,340 arrests (Updated as of 05/03/2016). These arrests have ranged in seriousness from murder, assault, unregistered sex offenders, probation and parole violations and numerous other serious offenses. Nationally the United States Marshals Service fugitive programs are carried out with local law enforcement in 94 district offices, 85 local fugitive task forces, 7 regional task forces, as well as a growing network of offices in foreign countries.