News Release - Police Find/Arrest Unregistered Child Sex Offenders

In two separate and unrelated cases, Palm Bay Police Officers found and arrested two child sex offenders who failed to register, a felony in the State of Florida.
In the first case, officers with the Neighborhood Policing Unit (NPU) received information on Wednesday from the New York City Police Department involving a convicted sex offender who was believed to be in the Palm Bay area. NYPD advised Thomas Atkins, (DOB 08-29-1968) was convicted in 1997 in the State of Texas for sexual assault on a child under 12. Following his release from Texas, Atkins moved to New York. New York authorities had no contact with Atkins since 2004. After receiving the information NPU Officer Joann Upperman followed up by checking on a possible address of where Atkins may be residing at 1425 Hyacinth St. NE. Officer Upperman confirmed that Atkins was in fact living in the City and had failed to register his address as required by law. An arrest warrant was obtained Thursday morning, and Atkins was arrested at his place of employment in the City of Melbourne.
In the second case Patrol Officer Wanda Mendez responded to a call to assist the Department of Children and Families with an investigation into possible child neglect and that a sex offender was living at the residence where young children were also residing on Deauville Ave, SW. Officer Mendez confirmed that Christopher Patton, (DOB 10-16-1975) was a convicted sex offender from the State of Ohio for sex acts involving a six-year-old female and failed to register his current address with the State of Florida. Patton was placed under arrest without incident.

“In both these cases, these offenders face as much as ten years in prison for failing to register,” said Officer Upperman with the NPU. “We take these matters very seriously because these individuals pose a risk to the safety of the public and our children.”

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