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‘Most Wanted’ Fugitive Arrested for Child Sexual Assault

Most Wanted Ex-Deputy Arrested for Sexual Abuse
U.S. Marshals Service officers conducting rooftop surveillance | Image from Shutterstock

Most Wanted Fugitive sex offender and former sheriff’s deputy James Mark Bishop was captured last week by the U.S. Marshals Service Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force in the Conde Creek area of Jackson County, OR.

49-year-old James Bishop had been among the 10 Most Wanted Fugitives in Texas after the Tulia Police Department issued two warrants in July 2021 for continuous sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child, CBS News reports. The Texas County Sheriff’s Office in Oklahoma also issued a warrant to repeal Bishop’s probation.

Authorities were able to locate Bishop. Police said in a news release on March 28 that they had cause to suspect he was living “off the grid” in Southern Oregon. Police’s assumptions were supported by tips received on social media.

Bishop has an extensive history of alleged sexual abuse of a child and child pornography.

In July 2005, Bishop was arrested for alleged sexual exploitation of a child while working for Texas County in Oklahoma as a sheriff’s deputy. Upon investigation, Bishop was convicted on five counts of knowingly downloading child pornography.

After being released from prison in 2011, Bishop was placed on probation and moved to Tulia, TX.

Bishop was charged then with continuous sexual assault of a minor and indecency with a child by sexual contact in Tulia in 2020 for occurrences involving a 12-year-old girl. 

After posting bond, he was released from custody and disappeared, which led to him being added to the most wanted list in October 2021.

Bishop was suspected to be working security or another job at an illicit marijuana grow operation in Southern Oregon or Northern California, according to the Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force, which includes federal agents and local police officers.

On Monday, March 28, 2022, Bishop was captured by the Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force in Jackson County, OR.

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