Cops nab fugitive child molester

By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

Concern about three suspects loitering on private property turned into the apprehension of a wanted child molester who was in town working with the carnival at the 37th Annual  Chisholm Trail Roundup.

According to a report generated by the Lockhart Police Department, an officer noted three individuals walking acro

ss the back yard of private property just after 1:20 p.m. on June 12. When he approached the individuals, two provided correct names and addresses, and the third gave a false name and said he had been previously arrested in Dallas.

A search of the name given by the suspect did not reveal record of the arrest. Suspicious, the officer took the suspect into custody to obtain fingerprints and determine the man’s identity.

Lockhart Police Chief Mike Lummus said the fingerprint search produced a match within the Federal Bureau of Investigation database and identified the suspect as Byron Wayne Dennis, 33, of Naples, Texas.

Dennis, as it turns out, was wanted on two active warrants, one for failing to register as a sex offender after being convicted of Indecency with a Child. His victim in that case was a 5-year-old girl.

“In this case, it’s a good thing that [the officer] just wouldn’t let it go,” Lummus said. “When the things he said started not adding up, he decided we needed to find out why, and it’s a good thing we got this guy off the streets.”