Police arrest sexually violent predator accused of failure to register

GREENSBURG, Pa. — 6:30 P.M. UPDATE: Police took Robert Bowen into custody in Erie on Thursday night, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

State police are searching for a man considered a sexually violent predator who is accused of failing to register under Megan’s Law.

Police said Robert Bowen was released from a state correctional institute near Erie on Tuesday after a 2007 conviction for indecent assault on two minors under the age of 13 years old.

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Investigators said Bowen gave a fraudulent Derry Township address during his initial Megan’s Law registration. They determined Bowen wasn’t given permission to live at the residence he listed and does not know the resident.

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"We talked to the homeowner, she has no idea who this person is, has no idea that he would put her address down as a place to reside and had not seen him, so obviously that's very alarming and it's been 2 days since that person was released,” Trooper Stephen Limani, of the Pennsylvania State Police of Greensburg, said.

Police believe Bowen used the fake address to avoid his sex offender registration requirements.

Bowen is required, by the courts, to register as a lifetime Megan’s Law offender.

• PA Megan's Law Website: To check for sex offenders living in your neighborhood, CLICK HERE. 

An arrest warrant has been issued for Bowen for failure to comply with registration requirements. Investigators believe he may have hopped on a bus and was dropped off somewhere in the Pittsburgh area.

Police said they found an inmate at that same prison where Bowen came from -- who lived at the Derry township address he gave and police believe Bowen may have copied the address from there.

Anyone with information about Bowen’s whereabouts is asked to call the Pennsylvania State Police in police Greensburg at 724-830-2431.  Callers may be anonymous.

Cox Media Group