AUSTIN - John Wayne Stoneham, 49, a Texas 10 Most Wanted Sex Offender, is now in custody after being captured Thursday in Houston. Stoneham, a high-risk sex offender, was wanted for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements and parole violation. The arrest was the result of a tip, and a reward of up to $5,000 will be paid.
Working off tip information, members of the U.S. Marshals Service Gulf Coast Violent Offender Fugitive Task Force, including DPS Special Agents, apprehended Stoneham at a location near downtown Houston. For more information, see his captured bulletin.
Stoneham had been wanted since May 2017, after he absconded from a Houston facility where he had primarily resided since his 2012 parole from a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison. His criminal history includes burglary of habitation with intent to commit sexual assault and indecency with a child-sexual contact.
So far in 2017, DPS and other agencies have arrested 24 Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives and Sex Offenders, including 11 sex offenders and 12 gang members, and $61,000 in rewards have been paid for 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.
### (HQ 2017-130)