John Paul Angel, Jr., 43, of St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Florida, United States has been arrested. A criminal complaint charged him with failing to register as a sex offender. 

In May 2001, Angel was convicted in Bergen County, New Jersey, USA of second-degree sexual assault of a minor child after pleading guilty to the charge. When he was released from prison in 2003, he was required to register as a sex offender.

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However, Angel has been repeatedly failing to report his whereabouts and his status as a convicted sex offender since 2003. In May 2005, he failed to report annually to officials in New Jersey so a warrant was issued for his arrest.

In 2012, Angel moved to Florida. In April 2022, law enforcement officers found out that he was using the alias John Saravia while he was living in St. Petersburg.

Neither Angel’s legal name nor his alias was registered in Florida as required by state and federal law. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a potential lifetime term of supervised release. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Claire Favorit is prosecuting the case. The U.S. Marshals Service investigated the case with the help of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office, the City of Clifton Police Department and the New Jersey Parole Office.

Founded in 1888, St. Petersburg was incorporated on February 29, 1892 and reincorporated on June 6, 1903. It is the fifth most populous city in Florida.

Born in St. Petersburg, Kenneth “Ken” T. Welch, 57, is the incumbent mayor of the city. He assumed office on January 6, 2022.