Amarillo police: 17 arrested during annual sex offender compliance check

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - Amarillo police arrested 17 sex offenders and arrested a wanted Idaho man during their annual sex offender compliance check.

Amarillo Police Department recently conducted a compliance check of all registered sex offenders in Amarillo, which is a total of 682 individuals, a news release said.

The check lasted two weeks in August and authorities checked a total of 697 addresses.

A total of 28 reports were created for various law violations, leading to police arresting 17 sex offenders for failure to comply with registration requirements. One person had an immigration hold.

Police learned that seven offenders left Amarillo before the operation began.

During the operation, on Aug. 18, the U.S. Marshals arrested Thomas Golding in Randall County.

He had a warrant out of Twin Falls, Idaho, for sexual abuse of a child under 16.

While arresting him, authorities discovered there were minors in the home.

The Department of Health and Human Services have custody of the children now, and the investigation is ongoing. Further charges are possible.

Detectives from the Special Victim’s Unit (SVU), officers from the Proactive Criminal Enforcement Unit (PACE), and the U.S. Marshals were involved in the operation.

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