ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — A sex offender who hadn’t registered in nearly 20 years was arrested after officials said he was found to be living in St. Petersburg under a fake name.
John Paul Angel Jr., 43, had been living in the Tampa area under the name John Saravia since 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
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The DOJ said Angel was convicted of second-degree sexual assault of a minor child in Bergen County, New Jersey in 2001 and served three years in jail. He hadn’t registered as sex offender or reported his location since 2003.
A warrant was issued for his arrest in 2005 after he failed to show up for a legally required annual meeting with officials in New Jersey, the DOJ said.
Law enforcement discovered Angel was living in St. Pete in April.
He was arrested and charged with failing to register as a sex offender. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in jail with a potential lifetime supervised release.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office, the City of Clifton Police Department, and the New Jersey Parole Office.