The days of illegitimate freedom for one convicted sex offender - allegedly on the run from his Florida probation for 22 years - may have become numbered when a sex offender cold case squad reviewed his case.
A U.S. Marshal assigned to an Orlando, Fla., task force spotted an alias from the 1980s records in the case of John Patrick Cullen, also known as John Patrick McCarthy.
The John Patrick Cullen name was run through several different databases, leading back to an address in Auburn.
On Monday afternoon, upstate New York marshals went to check out if the resident of Apt. 5, 290 Grant Ave., Auburn, was the same man.
“And this was the right guy,” said Joseph Ciciarelli, the deputy in charge of the U.S. Marshal's Central New York Fugitive Task Force.
Ciciarelli said that the name John Patrick Cullen was using in this area is his real name, but that Florida records have him listed as John Patrick McCarthy.
Cullen has been held in Cayuga County Jail since.
He is scheduled to appear in Cayuga County Court 10 a.m. Friday to be arraigned on Florida's fugitive warrant.
Cullen can agree that he is in the person named in the warrant and be held until Florida authorities come to get him.
If he contests that Florida got the right man, then proof must be introduced during an extradition hearing that the warrant is valid and that he is indeed the right person named in the warrant.
Vernon Barber, the administrator of the Florida Department of Corrections' absconder program, said that Orange County, Fla., wants to extradite Cullen.
If successfully extradited, Cullen might face prison time, he said.
Cullen was convicted in March 1979 of felony counts of lewdly fondling or assaulting, committing or simulating sexual acts on or in the presence of a child under 16.
He was sentenced to five years in prison in March 1981, and he was released onto probation after his prison release Jan. 3, 1983, Barber said.
He absconded from probation in August 1984, Barber said.
Information about Florida offenders wanted on outstanding warrants is posted on a public Web site and filed with databases.
After Cullen's arrest Monday by the U.S. Marshals, an automatic hit was sent to Florida on Tuesday.
Orange County has been notified separately by teletype.
After getting the hit, Barber's office confirmed that Cullen's biographical specs matched their records and confirmed that Orange County wants to extradite him.
Barber said that modern-day connections of databases, Web sites and on-line communication enhances the chances of locating and apprehending offenders.
“It's just a good example of what happens on a routine day,” Barber said.
Cullen was a contract motor carrier for The Citizen.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
The John Patrick Cullen name was run through several different databases, leading back to an address in Auburn.
On Monday afternoon, upstate New York marshals went to check out if the resident of Apt. 5, 290 Grant Ave., Auburn, was the same man.
“And this was the right guy,” said Joseph Ciciarelli, the deputy in charge of the U.S. Marshal's Central New York Fugitive Task Force.
Ciciarelli said that the name John Patrick Cullen was using in this area is his real name, but that Florida records have him listed as John Patrick McCarthy.
Cullen has been held in Cayuga County Jail since.
He is scheduled to appear in Cayuga County Court 10 a.m. Friday to be arraigned on Florida's fugitive warrant.
Cullen can agree that he is in the person named in the warrant and be held until Florida authorities come to get him.
If he contests that Florida got the right man, then proof must be introduced during an extradition hearing that the warrant is valid and that he is indeed the right person named in the warrant.
Vernon Barber, the administrator of the Florida Department of Corrections' absconder program, said that Orange County, Fla., wants to extradite Cullen.
If successfully extradited, Cullen might face prison time, he said.
Cullen was convicted in March 1979 of felony counts of lewdly fondling or assaulting, committing or simulating sexual acts on or in the presence of a child under 16.
He was sentenced to five years in prison in March 1981, and he was released onto probation after his prison release Jan. 3, 1983, Barber said.
He absconded from probation in August 1984, Barber said.
Information about Florida offenders wanted on outstanding warrants is posted on a public Web site and filed with databases.
After Cullen's arrest Monday by the U.S. Marshals, an automatic hit was sent to Florida on Tuesday.
Orange County has been notified separately by teletype.
After getting the hit, Barber's office confirmed that Cullen's biographical specs matched their records and confirmed that Orange County wants to extradite him.
Barber said that modern-day connections of databases, Web sites and on-line communication enhances the chances of locating and apprehending offenders.
“It's just a good example of what happens on a routine day,” Barber said.
Cullen was a contract motor carrier for The Citizen.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
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