AUSTIN – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) announces the capture of a violent, repeat sex offender from Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List in Harris Co. Jacob Aaron Kessler was arrested on Friday, July 18. A Crime Stoppers reward will not be paid for his arrest.
Jacob Aaron Kessler, 41, was taken into custody at a residence in Houston. Working off investigative information, the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Fugitive Task Force led an operation to locate and arrest Kessler. The U.S. Marshals were joined by the DPS Criminal Investigations Division (CID), Texas Highway Patrol (THP), Nacogdoches Co. Sheriff’s Office, Houston Police Department, Harris Co. Sheriff’s Office, Pasadena Police Department, and the Harris Co. Precinct 1 and 5 constables’ offices in the fugitive operation.
In 2011, Kessler was convicted of sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child by sexual contact following incidents with a 15-year-old girl and an 8-year-old girl. He was subsequently sentenced to 9 years of confinement for each offense, to be served concurrently.
Kessler had been wanted out of Nacogdoches Co. since April 2025 for reoffending, with warrants out for his arrest on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated sexual assault. More information on Kessler’s capture can be found here.
Funded by the Governor’s Public Safety Office, Texas Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of one of Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders or Criminal Illegal Immigrants. So far in 2025, DPS and other agencies have arrested 40 Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders and Criminal Illegal Immigrants, including 14 sex offenders and 10 criminal illegal immigrants—with $28,000 in rewards being paid for tips that yielded arrests.
To be eligible for cash rewards, tipsters MUST provide information to authorities using one of the following three 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 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 collaborate with local law enforcement agencies to select fugitives for the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders, and Criminal Illegal Immigrants 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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