Registered sex offender removes ankle monitor to meet teen in next state, feds say

A registered sex offender was arrested after being accused of driving from Washington to Oregon to sexually assault a teen, federal officials said.

James Harrison Newcomer, 27, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison following his 2020 conviction of raping a 15-year-old girl, court documents stated.

After serving his sentence, he was put on state supervision, according to a June 20 news release by the United States Attorney’s Office Western District of Washington. As part of the supervision, Newcomer was required to wear an ankle monitor.

In January 2024, officers went to Newcomer’s home to arrest him after his ankle monitor lost connection, prosecutors said.

When officers arrived, Newcomer was not there and his ankle monitor was found, with a dead battery, documents said.

Over the next three months, Newcomer met three teen girls on Snapchat and arranged to meet them, officials said.

During the meetings, Newcomer gave the girls, ages 14 to 16, drugs and alcohol and sexually assaulted them, prosecutors said.

In February 2024, Newcomer picked up a 16-year-old girl at her North Bend, Washington, home and took her to a Seattle apartment, documents said. There he gave her methamphetamine and sexually assaulted her.

Later that month, Auburn police learned of a similar situation involving a 15-year-old girl who ran away overnight, prosecutors said.

The girl’s mother went on her laptop and learned of conversations her daughter was having with Newcomer in which he told her to disable the home security system and wait until her parents were asleep before leaving, officials said.

In May 2024, officers in Woodburn, Oregon, learned of a sexual assault involving a 14-year-old girl, officials said.

Newcomer was arrested on June 20, officials said.

If convicted, Newcomer is facing up to 30 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.