By INDARJIT SEURAJ Tuesday, March 9 2010

A RESIDENT of the United States who was listed on ‘America’s Most Wanted’ website, is now being sought in Trinidad where it is believed he is in hiding with his girlfriend and their two daughters. The man is wanted for a string of sexual offences against a female relative.

Leon Todd Jones, 47, of McMinnille, Oregon, is wanted in his hometown for alleged rape and sodomy against the relative back 2001. US law enforcement officers say they believe he may have fled to Puerto Rico or TT- the birthplace of his current girlfriend. Detectives discovered that in late 2001, Jones and his girlfriend were living in Trinidad with their two daughters. In January of 2002, detectives contacted Jones by phone and he agreed to fly to Puerto Rico to turn himself in on February 3. But he never showed up. Jones denied all allegations and even agreed to a polygraph test, but he never showed for that either.

Authorities confirmed that Jones had quit his job on November 8, 2001 and listed a forwarding address in Puerto Rico for the receipt of his mail. According to case facts posted on the website, the abuse was detected during a visit in April 2001. The victim, a 16-year-old schoolgirl, went to the shopping mall with a close male relative.

Authorities said he drove to the shopping center, parked his car behind a store and demanded that the teen remove her bra.

Police say the girl resisted the assault as he attempted to kiss her and put his hands down her pants.

She managed to free herself and ran into the mall before informing her mother. The girl’s mother arrived later and lodged a report with the police. An investigation by Child Protective Services soon discovered that the man had abused two other children and that the sexual assault on the teen had gone on for years.

Police have described Jones as five feet, seven inches tall, weighing 180 pounds and having blond coloured hair. Jones has a long red birthmark on the back of his neck, a crooked scar on his abdomen and a tattoo of the name “Kerry” on his left forearm. Police believe Jones may still be in the company of his girlfriend and their two children who would now be six and nine years respectively. Anyone who may have seen Jones is asked to contact the nearest police station, Crime Stoppers at 800-TIPS or dial 555.