A sex offender from Ohio was arrested for failing to register in Florida after a deputy saw him hitchhiking on Interstate 75.
A deputy spotted 61-year-old Bobby Ray Blackburn walking along the side of I-75 in Oxford around 1:30 p.m. Thursday, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
Further investigation revealed he had been in Florida for three days and was hitching a ride back to Ohio. He stated he was a sex offender in Ohio, but no longer had to register there as such, the report said.
However, a check of Blackburn’s criminal history showed he was a sexually violent offender out of Ohio, the report said. The National Sex Offender Database listed him at a sex offender out of Tennessee. He had been convicted of criminal sexual assault involving a child on April 5, 1991.
He also had warrants out of Georgia and Ohio, both for failure to appear for DUI. A check of Florida’s sex offender registry determined he had not ever registered in the state, the report said.
Blackburn was arrested and charged with sex offender violation (fail to comply with registration law). He was transported to the Sumter County Detention Center to be held without bond. He is being held for the failures to be appear in Georgia and Ohio, as well.