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Scranton, PA – Acting U.S. Marshal Martin J. Pane
announced today that the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) arrested William Szalku in
Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Szalku, 49 years of age, was wanted by the U.S. Marshals Service after a Federal
Warrant was issued on October 24, 2011 charging Szalku with Violation of
Conditions of Supervised Release.
In 2001, Szalku was convicted in Northampton County Pennsylvania on a charge of
indecent assault in which a minor was sexually assaulted on multiple occasions.
Szalku was sentenced to 30 to 60 months in State prison. As a result of that
conviction, Szalku was designated by Pennsylvania as a Sexually Violent Predator
which has a lifetime requirement to register under the Megan’s Law registration
requirements. In November 2008, Szalku registered with the Pennsylvania State
Police (PSP).
In December of 2008, information revealed that Szalku moved from his last
registered address in Luzerne County to South Carolina. U.S. Marshals, in
conjunction with the Pennsylvania State Police, opened an investigation. During
the investigation, information revealed Szalku might be residing in the
Bennettsville, South Carolina area. Szalku did not register as a sexually
violent predator in Pennsylvania or South Carolina as required. As a result, the
U.S. Marshals Service obtained a Federal arrest warrant on December 29, 2008.
Szalku was charged with failure to register as required by the Sex Offender
Registration and Notification Act, more commonly known as an Adam Walsh Act
Violation.
Marshals in Pennsylvania forwarded leads to their counterparts in South
Carolina, and on January 29th, 2009, Szalku was arrested in Bennettsville, SC by
the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force. Szalku received a Federal
sentence of 30 months imprisonment for this offense.
On October 24, 2011, another federal arrest warrant was issued charging Szalku
with Violation of Conditions of Supervised Release. U.S. Marshals in Scranton
again opened an investigation to his whereabouts. On October 26, 2011 Marshals
and the Lackawanna County Sheriff’s Office located Szalku in the 500 block of
Spruce Street in Scranton, he was arrested without incident.
At the time of his arrest, Szalku was in possession of three cell phones and a
SanDisk memory card. These items have been seized and Szalku has been remanded.
Acting U.S. Marshal Martin Pane stated, “The Marshals Service gives top priority
to these types of fugitive cases. If you’re on Supervised Release after serving
a sentence for harming minors, don’t violate, because you will not walk on our
streets freely and potentially harm others.”
U.S. Marshals were assisted by the Lackawanna County Sheriff’s Office.
The concept of all USMS-led fugitive task forces is to seek out and arrest the
nation’s most dangerous offenders. Since 2006, the United States Marshals
Service has arrested more than 34,000 fugitives for Sex Offenses, Failure to
Register and Failure to Comply with Sex Offenders Registration Requirements.
Additional information about the U.S.
Marshals Service can be found at
http://www.usmarshals.gov.
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