NFM man accused of molesting a child

A convicted sex offender is behind bars, again.

Richard Brown, 35, whose last known address is the parking lot of Walmart at 545 Pine Island Rd, North Fort Myers was arrested again, and is facing charges for molesting a child under the age of 12.

This is not the first time law enforcement has arrested Brown for sex crimes. Back in 2004, in Michigan, Brown was arrested for a sexual offence. He was arrested another time in Florida for seducing undercover investigators posing as children online. Brown finished serving his sentence for that charge this year in May.

“It’s a very compulsive behavior,” said licensed mental health councilor Dr. Laura Streyffeler. “It’s almost like a fix they feel like they need to do it.”

Dr. Streyffeler says this is more common than one would think.

“We want to believe these predators are outcasts that live outside of main stream society,” Dr. Streyffeler said.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement says they track thousands of registered sex offenders, and anyone can see their addresses online.

“There’s so many that no one evens knows who they are,” Dr. Streyffeler said. “So the idea of as long as you have to pay attention to the list, then you don’t have to worry about it is a very dangerous idea.”

Records shows deputies checked in with Brown twice last July, but homeless sex offenders aren’t required to wear monitoring devices like they are in states like Arkansas.

Brown is being held on no bond.