Patagonia resident Gregory Whitcoe was arrested October 21 by the Patagonia Marshal’s Office and was booked into the Santa Cruz County Detention Center. The previous day, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department, acting on information provided to them by an individual, informed Marshal Joe Patterson that Whitcoe was “wanted for alleged crimes in the State of Delaware,” according to a press release issued by the Marshal’s office.
Whitcoe was convicted of possession of child pornography in Delaware in 2008 and was required to register as a sex offender. A warrant was issued in December 2012 after he failed to re-register and failed to verify his address. He was held at the Santa Cruz County Detention Center with a $25,000 cash bond but has since been released on his own recognizance.
Whitcoe has been living in Patagonia, running a web design company, G Whitcoe Designs, founded in 2008.
At the Oct. 23 Patagonia Town Council meeting Marshal Patterson said the offender is non-violent and is classified at the tier 1 level of the three tiers of the sex-offender registration system. The offense was committed in Delaware over ten years ago. Whitcoe is deemed to be at low risk of re-offending and extradition is unlikely.