Sarasota fugitive captured after 24 years on the run

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Apprehension Unit, working in conjunction with the U. S. Marshals Florida fugitive task force, has located a sex offender who has been on the run for 24 years.

Richard Verboys, 60, was convicted in Sarasota County of Lewd and Lascivious Battery on a Child for sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl. In 1988 he was sentenced to probation and court-ordered mental health counseling but fled the area a short time later.

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Apprehension Unit developed leads on his whereabouts and forwarded them to the U.S. Marshal Service Middle District of Pennsylvania Task Force and they took him into custody today in Scranton. Verboys will be booked into the Lackawanna County Jail where he will await extradition to Florida.