Police ask public's help finding sex offenders/Delaware

Police ask public's help finding sex offenders/Delaware
Police ask public's help finding sex offenders By HIRAN RATNAYAKE, The News Journal Posted Sunday, November 5, 2006 John A. DiCriscio Delbert D. Sampson The Delaware State Police have arrest warrants out for 14 convicted sex offenders for failing to report their whereabouts and are asking for the public's help, said Delaware State Police spokeswoman Sgt. Melissa Zebley. The sex offenders -- 13 men and one woman, all moderate- or high-risk -- must register their addresses with the state and keep them up to date. It is a felony to fail to properly register with the Delaware State Police State Bureau of Identification. "We use all our resources and that means using the public to know where they may be," Zebley said. "We can get potential additional addresses for them." The public is continually alerted of the status of sex offenders in the interest of public safety and awareness since the inception of the state police sex offender registry Web site. The News Journal recently reported that hundreds of convicted sex offenders had disappeared from state scrutiny by simply ignoring mailings sent by the Delaware State Police, which were then never followed through. Since then, police have been stepping up their efforts to track the criminals. John A. DiCriscio and Delbert D. Sampson are the only two offenders included in the current search who are listed as high-risk. DiCriscio, 50, was convicted in May of 2001 of having unlawful sexual contact with a child. He was last verified in April at a Georgetown address. Sampson, 63, whose last known address was in Felton in August 2005, was convicted in February 2002 of fourth-degree rape. The victims of both men were under the age of 12. "I can't speak to whether they'll be less likely to offend if they're tracked," Zebley said. "But they will be less successful in continuing to hide." http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061105/NEWS/611050354

Wanted sex offender turns up in Phoenix, Ariz. Staff Report REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — A Delaware man who fled the courtroom before he could be called to answer indecent exposure charges turned up in an Arizona homeless shelter, police said, where he was arrested Tuesday night. John A. Dicriscio, 50, of Georgetown was arrested by the Phoenix Police Department and will be brought back to Delaware, the Delaware State Police said in a news release late Tuesday night. Phoenix police held him on fugitive charges after finding him in a homeless shelter through a joint investigation. Dicriscio had originally been arrested on Oct. 9 for allegedly exposing his genitals to a 10-year-old girl in the Michaels Arts & Crafts store in Rehoboth Beach. At the Court of Common Pleas in Georgetown on Oct. 19, Dicriscio arrived at the courtroom for a preliminary hearing on the charges against him but left the building before his case was called. He had spent 34 days as a fugitive before his Tuesday arrest. Sgt. Joel Tranter of the Phoenix Police Department said detectives and undercover officers had been working to find Dicriscio for several days after learning that he had possibly come to Phoenix. Tranter said Dicriscio was arrested in a homeless shelter in the 1800 block of South 35th Avenue, not far from the city's downtown blocks. When officers questioned him, "he gave us false information, false names and things like that, but we knew who we were looking at," Tranter said Wednesday. Originally published November 22, 2006 http://www.dailytimesonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061122/NEWS01/61122002

Police seek tips on high-risk sex offender The News Journal • October 5, 2008 State police are again asking for the public's help in finding Delbert W. Sampson, a 65-year-old former Felton resident and high-risk sex offender who has been missing since January 2006. The most recent unconfirmed tip came in July and placed Sampson near Spence's Bazaar in Dover, police said. He was convicted in 2002 of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl. The Delaware State Police Sex Offender Apprehension and Registration Unit considers Sampson its most wanted offender. In April, Sampson was profiled on the television program "America's Most Wanted" and will appear again in an upcoming episode, police said. The show's Web site said he also has been reported in the area of Pagosa, Colo., and Cortez, Colo. He is described as 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet tall, with black and gray hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information on Sampson's whereabouts may call state police at 672-5306 or Delaware Crime Stoppers at (800) TIP-3333 or www.tipsubmit.com. http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20081005/NEWS01/810050360/1006/NEWS

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