Florida

Convicted Sex Offender Arrested in Hollywood

A convicted sex offender who spent more than a decade without registering in Florida was arrested in Hollywood Tuesday, U.S. Marshals said.

Jack Trowbridge, 62, was arrested at a home in the 2500 block of McKinley Street for failure to register, officials with the U.S. Marshals Service said. Trowbridge has been living in Florida for three and a half years without registering, officials said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I have no idea,” Trowbridge said as Marshals escorted him in handcuffs.

Trowbridge was convicted of a sexual offense against an adult in Nebraska in 1975, serving at least two years in prison. He was convicted again in 1998 for an offense against a child and spent six months in jail, officials said.

“I got six months time. They called it illegal touching because I spanked a girl on the butt. She was a friend of mine’s daughter,” Trowbridge said. “My friend took it out of proportion, but it was a misdemeanor.”

He lived in Texas until 2010 before coming to Hollywood in 2011. Officials said he has failed to register in Florida, Texas and Nebraska.

“There’s a reason why these guys don’t register,” said Barry Golden. “They don’t want law enforcement to know where they’re living.”

Nebraska authorities said they were tipped off about Trowbridge being in Florida when he applied for a drivers’ license this February. Since that time, U.S. Marshals have been working on building a case.

Sean Conoine, who runs the Homeless Voice program, rented Trowbridge a room. Conoine said he ran a background check on Trowbridge three years ago, and since he hasn’t been registering, nothing came up.

“Yeah, I feel duped, you know. Nice guy — but so was Ted Bundy,” Conoine said.

The Marshals Service and other authorities haven’t said how Trowbridge was able to fly under the radar for 15 years without registering.

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