A wanted sex offender on the run from Colorado police was arrested in southern New Mexico after he was recognized from news coverage of his case.
The search for Jorge Campos began when he didn’t show up at court in Douglas County on Friday, March 20, for a trial related to the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl. Officials said he cut off his ankle monitor, which was later found in a dumpster near his home, and it was determined that he was on the run.
Campos, 42, was arrested two days later on Sunday, March 22, in Chaparral, New Mexico, after a good Samaritan saw news out of Denver that explained Campos was on the run, according to a spokesman for Colorado’s 23rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office. The news coverage also showed footage of him on a bus headed to Mexico, which helped the person identify Campos.
“The viewer called 9-1-1, and Otero County deputies arrested him at an Allsup’s gas station near the border,” Tom Mustin, of the District Attorney’s Office in Douglas County, said in the statement.
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Officials continued to discuss the situation during a news conference on Monday, March 23, and explained that Campos came close to crossing the Mexico border.
“He’s about 25 minutes from the border, and this good Samaritan tip results in all the good guys convening on this gas station with a bus filled with people going to Mexico, including this guy, and they grab him up,” 23rd Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler said, per CBS News.
Amid the search for Campos, officials also released a photo of him allegedly leaving a hotel in New Mexico. However, officials did not reveal the exact time and place where the photo was taken.
Campos was facing five charges of “sexual assault of a child – pattern of abuse” related to the 2024 sexual assault when he ran away.
The victim testified about the experience during the four-day trial, and Deputy District Attorney Brynn Chase said she “was violated, villainized, and voiceless and faced unimaginable trauma with remarkable strength.”
By the end of the trial, Campos was convicted by a Douglas County jury on all five counts.
Now that he has been found and taken into custody, he will be extradited to Colorado and is expected to face new charges related to the alleged removal of his ankle monitor and escape from justice. However, the official new charges he will be facing have not yet been announced.
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“We are very fortunate that nobody was hurt as he was attempting to flee the country, and we’re grateful to have him back in custody. From my perspective, he should never have been out of custody. It’s almost unconscionable that somebody could commit crimes like this and be put on an ankle monitor that can be cut off and flee,” Sheriff Darren Weekly said in a statement.
Weekly added that he believed that Campos “still had his passport with him” at the time of the attempted escape.
“The system in Colorado is broken” and the legislature “need to rethink their priorities instead of thinking about the suspects,” he said. “Start thinking about victims of crimes and do better. Colorado can do better … starting with this session. There’s still time.”
