Grand Forks Police are looking for a moderate-level sex offender after he failed to update his probation officer on his whereabouts.
An arrest warrant was issued for James Paul Garceau, 38, in late April after his probation officer found out Garceau had not notified the officer of changes to his address and place of employment, as convicted sex offenders are court-ordered to do.
The probation officer visited the residence Garceau claimed to be staying at on April 27, only to be told by Garceau's parents that he had not been staying there and they had not seen him since mid-April, according to a petition filed with Grand Forks District Court asking the court to revoke Garceau's probation.
The probation officer also visited Garceau's reported place of employment on that day and discovered Garceau had been let go a week prior, according to the court document.
Garceau had also failed to make any payments on $525 in court fines, according to the court document filed on April 28.
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Garceau has not updated his information with his probation officer. The Grand Forks Police Department on Wednesday posted a notification on its Facebook page asking for the public's help in locating Garceau.
Grand Forks Police Lt. Derik Zimmel said the police department does not always issue a public notification when a sex offender breaks his terms of probation.
"If we put something on Facebook every time we had someone go into noncompliance, it would be so common, it wouldn't attract attention," Zimmel said. "This is an individual that it's a habitual problem with him."
Garceau was convicted in December of corrupting a minor, a class C felony, in Grand Forks District Court after having sex with a 17-year-old girl. The minor, who is now of legal age, had originally told police the sex was consensual and the two were in love, according to court records.
The woman filed for a restraining order against Garceau in December.
