Child Rapist Jesse Sawyer Jr. Was Set Free By Police Over Missing Paperwork

An alleged child rapist named Jesse Sawyer Jr. was set free by police over missing paperwork, and it’s said a costly manhunt could have been avoided if they had simply waited a few minutes.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, a Montana Judge drew criticism for sentencing a child rapist to only one month in prison and even months later he still kept his job.

The 25-year-old Jesse Sawyer Jr. is facing federal charges for allegedly sexually molesting several young children while taking photos of the acts. It’s claimed that one of the victims is less than five years old. So an arrest warrant was issued and The Inquisitr even featured this photo on our Facebook page in order to help track the man down.

Randy O’Melia of Troy, Jesse’s former boss, had worked with the man at a local hospital and was trouble when he spotted the mugshot:

“I wasn’t, like, really surprised that he was in trouble with the law. Well, when they said they were looking for him my first guess was he probably went to Florida because that’s where he took off for before.”

But what makes the headlines is how the Pinellas Park Police Department arrested Sawyer in St. Petersburg only to release him within an hour because they were missing critical paperwork. The kicker is that if they had simply waited six more minutes then they would have received the fax proving the man was a wanted child rapist.

Pinellas Park Police Sgt. Adam Geissenberger explained that the reason Sawyer was released was because he was never technically in custody and had not been charged with any crime. The law is very stringent in this manner and cannot simply take a voice confirmation from a fellow police officer. Instead, their hands are tied until the necessary paperwork is in order:

“In this litigious society… we can’t deem the warrant to be valid until it comes from an official, authorized source. What we originally got was he’s wanted for child pornography. Is this deplorable? Absolutely. Is it the crime of the century? It’s not. Had they told us that he is also wanted for raping children they may have held him longer.”

The man was eventually caught again but even Troy Police Capt. John Cooney was stunned by the actions of the other police department:

“There’s a big difference between calling Troy about a guy who’s wanted for speeding tickets, and a monster… who’s destroyed the lives of children…. Regardless of the procedural issues that we discussed earlier in the day — and which we’re sure will be clarified and worked on in the future — the job has been done.”

Do you think it was right for the police station to allow an alleged child rapist go because of missing paperwork?