At-Large Springfield Sex Offender Found In Utah

A sex offender from Springfield on the loose for about three weeks was caught Friday trying to flee to California. The Eastern District of Virginia issued an arrest warrant for William “Andy” Hemphill, 39, on Feb. 23 for violating his supervised release. He had been convicted in 2004 for a child pornography possession charge and in 2009 for aggravated sexual battery of a minor.

U.S. Marshals in the Eastern District of Virginia found out Hemphill was on a Amtrak train in Colorado heading to the Bay Area in California, the Associated Press reported. Counterparts in Utah arrested Hemphill when the train stopped in Salt Lake City.

“This was very rapidly developing,” Christopher Leuer of the U.S. Marshals Service, Eastern District of Virginia told WTOP. “We looked at the path of the train and where it was going and where we had offices. And we quickly put a plan in place.”

Hemphill will appear before a judge in Utah and faces prosecution in Virginia when he returns. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)

Since 2008, Hemphill has been registered as a sex offender. Hemphill was on supervised released on court orders for the 2004 child pornography possession conviction. His sex offender registration had been renewed on Jan 24, 2018, according to the Virginia sex offender registry.

Image via Virginia State Police