‘Serial Child Rapist’ Nabbed in Missouri After 24 Years on the Run: Feds

An Illinois man labeled a “serial rapist” by authorities was arrested over the weekend in Missouri after more than two decades spent on the lam.

Herman Carroll, 72, was taken into custody in the Ozark town of Branson by U.S. Marshals on Saturday, they said.

After being accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in 2000, he posted bail and vanished. A warrant was issued for his arrest the following year after he failed to appear at a hearing in the case. He was charged with predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, federal agents said.

Carroll had previously been convicted of sex offenses against children in 1983 and 1993, according to the Marshals.

A sprawling investigation into his disappearance involved multiple agencies and extended across more than a dozen local, state, and federal jurisdictions, including six states: Missouri, Illinois, Texas, Alaska, Arkansas and Maryland. Last week, two fugitive task forces searching for him received a tip that he was likely in Branson, officials said.

Carroll was on Wednesday being held in the Taney County Jail awaiting extradition proceedings in Illinois, according to online records.

“Sometimes, law breakers believe that Branson may be an ‘easy mark’ to either victimize our residents and tourists, or they think they can safely hide out here,” a Facebook post from the Branson Police Department celebrating Carroll’s arrest said. “Nothing could be farther from the truth!”