DPS Captures Child Predator on Top 10 Most Wanted List

AUSTIN, TX  – One of Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders, Russell Scott Ford, was captured on Monday, Dec. 2, in Beaumont. Ford, 57, was wanted for parole violation and failure to register as a sex offender.

DPS Special Agents worked off investigative information to locate and apprehend Ford at a business in Beaumont. The Texas Highway Patrol provided assistance in his arrest. He was not arrested as a result of a Crime Stoppers tip; therefore, no reward will be paid.

Ford had been wanted since March 2019, after he absconded from his last known address in Beaumont. In 1997, Ford was convicted in Jefferson County of aggravated sexual assault of a child for an incident involving a 3-year-old boy. He received a 30-year sentence in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison. For more information, see his captured bulletin.

So far this year, DPS and other agencies have arrested 26 Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives and Sex Offenders, including 14 sex offenders and nine gang members. In addition, $40,500 in rewards have been paid for tips that have yielded arrests.

Texas Crime Stoppers, which is funded by the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division, offers cash rewards to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of one of the Texas 10 most wanted fugitives or sex offenders.

To be eligible for the rewards, tipsters MUST provide information to authorities using one of the following three methods:

1. Call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477).
2. Submit a web tip through the DPS website by selecting the fugitive you have information about, and then clicking on the link under their picture.
3. Submit a Facebook tip by clicking the “SUBMIT A TIP” link (under the “About” section).

All tips are anonymous, regardless of how they are submitted, and tipsters will be provided a tip number instead of using a name.

DPS investigators work with local law enforcement agencies to select fugitives for the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitive and Sex Offender lists. You can find the current lists — with photos — on the DPS website.

Do not attempt to apprehend these fugitives; they are considered armed and dangerous.