Mass. State Police arrest 7 of 10 violent sex offenders

(NE Unsolved) -- Tips from FOX 25 viewers helped State Police track down several men on the list of the most wanted sex offenders in Massachusetts just days after Crime Reporter Bob Ward featured the list on New England's Unsolved.

Mass. State Police say two more men on their list, Robert Smith and George Smith, were arrested Wednesday. Robert was arrested in Roxbury, while George was arrested on a bus on the New Jersey Turnpike.

Robert was wanted for failure to register and drug charges, including dealing coke near a school or park. In 1998 and again in 2002, he was convicted of indecent assault and battery on two different women. In one case, he forced his way into a victim's bedroom and sexually assaulted her. He is due in court Thursday.

George was wanted in Boston on two counts of failure to register as a sex offender. In 1979, he was convicted of dragging a 15 year old girl onto the roof of a housing project and raping her. No word yet on when George will be returning to Boston for an arraignment.

Five out of 10 men on the list were arrested by Tuesday afternoon. They continue to request information on three men who have not been taken into police custody.

Mass. State Police announced the arrest of Roberto Jimenez just before 1 p.m. Tuesday. They say Jimenez was arrested in Holyoke. Earlier in the day, Lennell York was arrested in Fitchburg after investigators found him in the basement of a home. Alan Howard was arrested in East Boston Tuesday afternoon.

Two other men on the list, Victor Quinones and Placido Valdez, were arrested Monday.

Valdez was wanted by Lynn Police. In 2000 he was convicted of rape of a child and indecent assault and battery on a child. In that case he was accused of luring a 13-year-old girl to his apartment and raping her. Police said they caught him in Beverly Monday. He will be arraigned in Lynn District Court on charges of failing to register as a sex offender.

At about the same time, Quinones was located and arrested in Taunton. Police said Quinones was found hiding under a porch Monday. He was also scheduled be arraigned on a charge of failure to register as a sex offender Tuesday.

In 1998, Quinones was arrested for attacking a woman with a knife while she held a young child. His sex offense occurred in Rhode Island in 2004.

The Massachusetts State Police Violent Apprehension Section released a list of the 10 men investigators considered "the worst of the worst."

All of the men are level three sex offenders and failed to register their current addresses with the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board.

Under state law, the men are required to update their home and work addresses every year with local police and the Sex Offender Registry.

The men on the list have histories of violent sex crimes against women and children.

They are:

• Roberto Jimenez (arrested in Holyoke)
  
• Alan J. Howard (Howard was caught in East Boston following a FOX 25 viewer tip to law enforcement)
  
• George A. Smith (arrested on a bus on the NJ Turnpike)
  
• Robert C. Smith (arrested in Roxbury)
  
• Steven M. Cooper
• Carlos I. Beltran
• Lennell York (arrested in Fitchburg)
  
• Ong Noy
• Victor Quinones (Quinones was caught following a FOX 25 viewer tip to law enforcement)
  
• Placido Valdez Jr. (Valdez Jr. was caught in Beverly following a FOX 25 viewer tip to law enforcement.)
  

If you recognize any of these men, don't go near them, call the Mass State Police VFAS Unit at 1-800-KAPTURE.

In the past, alert Fox 25 Viewers have helped police find many Most Wanted Sex Offender Fugitives.

Cox Media Group