A convicted sex offender, listed on Oklahoma's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, who allegedly faked his own kidnapping, was captured after being on the run for 13 years.

After allegedly faking his disappearance in In 2012, the Moore, New York, Police Department and the Oklahoma U.S. Marshals announced in a statement that Anthony Lennon had been located and arrested in Canton, New York. “Mr. Lennon may think he’s very clever, but he’s not as clever as he thinks,” Moore Police Chief Todd Gibson stated, according to 7 News and KOCO. In 2008, Lennon was convicted on aggravated child pornography charges and received a 20-year suspended sentence. Subsequently, in 2011, authorities discovered that Lennon allegedly possessed more child pornography. At his residence, investigators allegedly found chat logs, a desktop computer, and stacks of CDs containing images of children being sexually assaulted, police said in a statement. He was arrested again and released on bail.

In March 2012, when police tried to arrest Lennon at the Super 8 Motel in Moore, where he worked, they found no trace of him. What they did find was blood everywhere.

Lennon had “staged an elaborate and bloody kidnapping and robbery, leaving behind fabricated evidence to simulate that he had been abducted,” the statement alleges.

“He went to extremes, and we determined that the large amount of blood at the staged crime scene was his,” Gibson stated at the press conference.

“And just like that, Mr. Lennon disappeared,” stated Johnny Kuhlman, U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Oklahoma. His whereabouts remained unknown until recently.

Lennon evaded capture for 13 years. However,Detectives from the Moore Police Department and the Oklahoma U.S. Marshals Service continued the investigation and located him in Canton under the alias “Justin Phillips,” according to the statement. Lennon was enrolled at the State University of New York at Canton (SUNY Canton), allegedly under his alias, at the time of his arrest, authorities said, according to NNY360. Fingerprint analysis confirmed his true identity. Authorities are investigating whether Lennon committed other crimes while on the run, 7 News reports. “Search warrants are being executed in New York for devices and residences, and we will see what they reveal to determine if other crimes have been committed,” Kuhlman said. “This case remains active and under investigation. But with his capture, we can now begin the process of holding Lennon accountable for the crimes he committed against children in our community,” the statement said. Lennon is being held in New York awaiting extradition to Oklahoma.

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