Escaped Officer, Convicted Of Sexual Assault, Captured

HONOLULU, HI — An escaped fugitive who has alluded authorities for 11 years has been captured.

The U.S. Marshals Service said they captured the former Utah corrections officer convicted of sexual abuse, William Lawrence, was captured Monday at a fast-food restaurant on the island of Kauai.

Marshals say Lawrence was an officer for the Utah Department of Corrections when he handcuffed a girl to a bed and forced her to perform sex acts. He was convicted of forcible sexual abuse and forcible sodomy.

Before his sentencing hearing, he fled and has been considered a fugitive since 2006.

Marshals say they discovered he was living in Hawaii while reviewing cold cases last month.

Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Derryl Spencer says that as a former law enforcement officer, Lawrence knew strategies to evade capture.

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