A former Manatee County sheriff's deputy wanted for capital sexual battery in Bradenton since 1991 has been caught in Alaska, authorities said.
Joseph Keenan May, 60, was arrested Friday at his home in Eager River, Alaska, on identity theft charges. He had been wanted since 1993 on a federal warrant charging unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Alaska said in a news release.
According to the indictment, May has been living under the identity of a stepbrother, Michael Camp, who died in his teens in the 1970s in Pennsylvania. The indictment charges two counts of unlawful use of a Social Security number, stemming from May's use of Camp's name and number to apply for an Alaska's driver's license in 2009 and unemployment benefits in 2013, the release said.
May faces up to 12 years in prison on the federal charges and could face life in prison if convicted of capital sexual battery in Manatee County.
A former road patrol deputy,k May was arrested in 1990 and accused of raping a 6-year-old girl. According to an arrest document cited by the Bradenton Herald, he was accused of assaulting the child "on numerous occasions between 1970 and 1977 within Manatee County at several locations."
According to Herald, May admitted to oral sex and told investigators that he fondled the girl, but he denied intercourse.
May was arrested in the fall 1990 and was held on high bond until a judge reduced it to $5,000. A trial was set for march 1991, but by then, May was gone.
Five moths later, a judge issued another warrant for May's arrest.
Manatee officials said May's alleged offenses were committed before he joined the sheriff's office, according to the Herald.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas C. Bradley told the Herald that May has been in Alaska since 1991 living under the stepbrother's name and never had any brushes with law enforcement. He avoided detection in part by avoiding situations in which he would be fingerprinted, including applying for certain jobs.