AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has added John Wayne Stoneham, 49, to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders list, and a cash reward of up to $5,000 is now being offered for information leading to his capture. Stoneham, a high-risk sex offender, is wanted for parole violation and failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements. All tips are guaranteed to be anonymous.
Stoneham has ties to Houston. He has been wanted since May 2017, after he absconded from a Houston facility where he has primarily resided since his 2012 parole from a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison. In 1991, Stoneham was convicted in Harris County of burglary of habitation with intent to commit sexual assault after multiple nighttime break-ins into the home of a 25-year-old woman. He subsequently received a 25-year prison sentence. Stoneham's criminal history also includes indecency with a child-sexual contact involving a 13-year-old girl.
Stoneham is 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs approximately 145 pounds. He has scars near his eyes and on his forehead, burn scars on his upper arms, and a birthmark on the upper right side of his back. Stoneham has used the alias names of "Kevin Johnson" and "John Williams" in the past. For more information or updates in the event of his arrest, see his wanted bulletin.
Texas Crime Stoppers, which is funded by the Governor's Criminal Justice Division, offers cash rewards to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of one of the Texas 10 Most Wanted fugitives or sex offenders. So far in 2017, Texas Crime Stoppers has paid $56,000 in total rewards for anonymous tips that resulted in arrests.
To be eligible for the cash rewards, tipsters MUST provide information to authorities using one of the three following methods:
- Call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477).
- Submit a web tip through the DPS website by selecting the fugitive you have information about, and then clicking on the link under their picture.
- Submit a Facebook tip by clicking the "SUBMIT A TIP" link (under the "About" section).
All tips are anonymous – regardless of how they are submitted – and tipsters will be provided a tip number instead of using a name.
DPS investigators work with local law enforcement agencies to select fugitives for the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive and Sex Offender lists. You can find the current lists – with photos – on the DPS website.
Do not attempt to apprehend these fugitives; they are considered armed and dangerous.
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