Two sex offenders caught after tips pour in

Tips from the public helped police finally locate and arrest two high-risk, sex offenders who had been wanted for up to two years. They had registered as homeless and police did not know where to find them.

One of the men is a child rapist who claimed he was homeless but really was living in Federal Way with a woman and her two children.

The other man, convicted of sexually abusing five boys, was living in a picnic shelter at Woodland Park.

People called the Seattle Police Department with information after reading Sunday's Seattle Times story about the growing numbers of sex offenders who register as homeless, making it difficult for police to monitor them and for the public to be aware of possible threats.

The article included 12 photographs of missing sex felons whom Seattle police had ranked as the most dangerous. All of them had arrest warrants, but police did not know where to find them.

The story revealed that more than 670 sex offenders across the state have registered as homeless.

The number of sex offenders registering as homeless in King County has nearly tripled in the past five years to 364.

Police say that some of these offenders actually live at an address but register as homeless to avoid bulletins notifying neighbors, schools and nearby day-care centers of their presence.

Homeless offenders are required to sign in weekly at the sheriff's office. But most don't, which is a felony.

Cruz K. Garcia, 39, was arrested Tuesday at a Seattle recycling company where he worked. Craig Lorch, co-owner of Total Reclaim Inc., 2200 6th Ave. S., said he was shocked when he saw Garcia's mug shot in The Times. The company told police Garcia worked there.

"It's the right thing to do if a person is a danger to the community," Lorch said.

He described Garcia as a good worker who was hired in August to recycle electronic equipment for $10 an hour.

Police say Garcia had registered as homeless but failed to sign in with the King County Sheriff's Office weekly, as required by law. When he was arrested, Garcia admitted he had been living with the Federal Way family, police say.

Garcia is an example of someone "skirting the whole system" by reporting he's homeless, said Seattle police Detective Mac Gordon with the sex offender detail.

Washington enacted a sex-offender registry in 1990 to help law enforcement monitor sex offenders and to alert communities where they were living.

Police could not provide more details about the Federal Way woman and her children.

Garcia was convicted in 1992 of first-degree rape of a child. The victim was an 11-year-old he had abused for four years.

"Garcia groomed the victim in a very thoughtful, cautious and patient manner, to gain her trust," a Seattle police bulletin stated. "Once Garcia was able to isolate her, he used threats of physical violence, coercion and intimidation to create fear."

Garcia also lured a 14-year-old girl into his apartment and sexually assaulted her in 1999.

He is in the King County Jail, charged with probation violations and for failing to properly register.

Police also received several tips that led to the arrest of homeless sex offender John M. Secord near Woodland Park on Monday. Police had been unable to locate him for more than two years.

A Seattle Parks and Recreation employee saw a photo of Secord in The Times and reported to police that Secord had been living for two months in picnic shelter No. 6 at the park. "He's a friendly guy," said the employee, who has seen Secord in the park area, off and on, for two years. "He's chatty. He'll come over and talk about life."

Secord, 39, was convicted of sexually abusing three young boys after first meeting them at a church they attended. In the 1980s, he also was convicted of sexually abusing a 7-year-old in a church and a 5-year-old boy he was baby-sitting.

Other callers told police they saw Secord riding the bus and going to a Fremont food bank on Tuesdays, Gordon said.

Secord is charged with failing to register as a sex offender based on his failure to sign in weekly. He is being held in King County Jail.

"He's been staying well below the radar," the detective said.

Christine Willmsen: 206-464-3261 or cwillmsen@seattletimes.com