Parker County sex offender arrested after dropping child porn thumb drive in police parking lot: authorities

Sex offender arrested after dropping illicit flash drive

A sex offender was arrested after a routine check-in when he accidentally dropped a flash drive with thousands of images of child pornography within it. FOX 4's David Sentendrey has more.

WEATHERFORD, Texas - A routine compliance check for a registered sex offender ended in a first-degree felony arrest after the man accidentally dropped a thumb drive containing child pornography in the sheriff’s office parking lot, authorities said.

William Raymond Catron faces new charges

What we know:

William Raymond Catron was taken into custody by Parker County Sheriff’s investigators after a visitor found the device on the ground and turned it over to personnel.

According to Sheriff Russ Authier, Catron had just completed a mandated appointment to verify his registration information on March 18. Surveillance footage from the exterior of the building showed the thumb drive falling from Catron's pocket as he reached for his car keys.

William Raymond Catron (Source: Parker County Sheriff)

When investigators examined the drive to identify its owner, they discovered more than 2,000 images and 100 videos of child pornography, along with "selfie" photographs of Catron.

"A twist of fate and bad decisions would lead to his arrest," Authier said in a statement.

Catron returned to the sheriff’s office at the request of investigators, where officials say he provided a full confession. A subsequent search of his home, conducted with the assistance of Weatherford Police and the Texas Department of Public Safety, uncovered additional electronic devices.

On March 20, Judge Craig Towson issued further warrants against Catron, including possession of child pornography depicting the sexual assault of a child under 10 and failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements.

Catron is being held in the Parker County Jail on a $750,000 bond.

What they're saying:

"This is the kind of criminal that we love to catch and put behind bars."

Sgt. Shane Cartwright with the Parker County Sheriff's Office told FOX 4's David Sentendrey that Catron's check-in was procedural, until it wasn't.

"I don’t think he ever expected to get caught. Not in a million years. Like I said, he’d been reporting with us since 2019. He’s been flying under the radar — until now," Cartwright continued.

When Catron was asked to return, he had no idea he had dropped the flash drive.

"He came, unknowing, he didn’t know what was going on at the time," Cartwright said. "Told us that he had a problem, that he knew that he had a problem, that he’d been praying about it for some time."

"That’s divine intervention. That’s the man upstairs knowing that you don’t need to be out there running loose. That’s what that is."