Crime
Unregistered sex offender who has gone on the run considered a threat by local authorities
By: Scott McCabe
Examiner Staff Writer
January 21, 2009
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In 2001, Nelson Antonio Reyes met an 11-year-old girl and fondled her at a park near his apartment complex in Langley Park, marshals said.
Reyes, now 30, was convicted, sent to prison, released and ordered to register as a child sex offender. But he fled in 2004 and has not been seen since, authorities said.
“He is a child sexual offender and he is a regional threat,” said Matthew Burke, supervisory inspector with the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Reyes is listed as 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds. He has lived in 9300 block of Piney Branch Road in Langley Park and in the 3400 block of Dodge Park Road in Landover.
Reyes, who is from El Salvador, sometimes uses the last name Barriantos-Reyes. Authorities don’t have any information indicating that he has fled the U.S., but many offenders cross state and international borders to try to fall through the cracks in communication between state registries, Burke said.
Those sex offenders who do cross state lines face severe penalties under the Adam Walsh Act, the federal law named after the murdered 6-year-old son of “America’s Most Wanted” host John Walsh, Burke said.
Anyone with information on Reyes’ whereabouts can call the U.S. Marshals Service at 301-489-1717 or 800-336-0102. Law enforcement authorities are offering a reward for information leading to an arrest.
The Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, run by the U.S. Marshals Service, is composed of 28 federal, state and local agencies from Baltimore to Norfolk. The unit has captured more than 19,000 wanted fugitives since its creation in 2004.
