Mo. fugitive molester caught at Bend motel

A 49-year-old Missouri convicted child molester who authorities said cut off his GPS bracelet and fled four days before his scheduled sentencing last fall was tracked down and arrested Tuesday morning at a southeast Bend motel, police said.

Bend police Sgt. Todd Fletcher said they had received information on Monday about Timothy Wayne Register, who was convicted last July by a Morgan County, Missouri jury of several charges, including first-degree statutory rape, statutory sodomy and two counts of child molestation involving a victim under the age of 14.

Morgan County Sheriff Jim Petty said Bend police told him they received a call from a Missouri bail bondsman about a possible phone number for Register. Petty said Bend police got a warrant for the phone company to provide the location of the phone, and it was tracked to a motel in Bend, identified by Fletcher as the Royal Gateway Motel, 475 SE Third St.

The Missouri sheriff said he told Bend police Register was considered to be dangerous and had been avoiding law enforcement. He said they supplied Bend police with photos of Register, as well as his tattoos.

A search of Register’s home near Sunrise Beach, Mo., after his Oct. 13 disappearance turned up a letter in which Register said he would not return to prison, Missouri officials said. His GPS device was recovered in Eldon, Missouri, they added.

Bend police learned Register was staying in a room at the motel, Fletcher said. Police, assisted by Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies, began surveillance of the motel around 9:30 p.m. Monday to confirm his whereabouts, while a search warrant was sought for the motel room.

Around 8:30 a.m., a man matching Register’s description left the motel room, heading for the office, authorities said. He was approached by police and sheriff’s deputies, along with a K-9 unit, and taken into custody without incident.

Fletcher said Register confirmed his identity to officers and was taken to the county jail, where he was held without bail on the out-of-state warrant. Petty said Register faces an extradition hearing to be returned to Missouri and face sentencing on the charges.