FOLEY, Alabama — A registered sex offender from Foley who allegedly left the state illegally more than 2 ½ years ago has been arrested in Minnesota on charges of violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
According to a release issued Friday by the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, deputies with the Offender Compliance Unit began an investigation into 29-year-old Austin Hamilton, a registered sex offender out of Illinois, after he left his home in Foley without notifying the compliance unit and moved to another state in early 2018.
In June, an anonymous tip was received that Hamilton was living in the St. Paul, Minnesota, area. The U.S. Marshals Service was contacted and asked to assist in locating Hamilton. On July 16 the USMS in Minnesota located and arrested Hamilton near St. Paul.
Hamilton will eventually be extradited back to Alabama to face prosecution. The U.S. Marshals Service and Baldwin County District Attorney’s Office assisted in this case.
