A homeless man was recently arrested in Jefferson for allegedly violating terms of being on the state’s Sex Offender Registry.

According to court documents, 34-year-old Vincent Nicholas stopped into the Greene County Law Enforcement Center on February 10th to notify them that he had moved from another county with his girlfriend who had family in Jefferson, as part of his requirements for being on the Sex Offender Registry. Court documents show that he told a LEC staff member that he was staying in a timber area next to the Greene County Medical Center, where he dug a hole and had a sleeping bag. 

The criminal complaint states that on February 11th, investigators contacted the medical center and they were unaware of Nicholas living in the timber area and wanted him out of that area. Court documents show that law enforcement used a drone with a thermal camera in the timber but couldn’t locate Nicholas or the campsite he described. The affidavit states that law enforcement knew of an individual of Nicholas’ girlfriend in Jefferson, where they found him to be and he took investigators to the site he was staying at, where there was no evidence of ground disturbance, a pathway or other signs that he was living there. 

Court documents state that an officer spoke with another individual in the home and they claim Nicholas had been staying there for the past two nights and not in the timber. The criminal complaint notes that it was determined that Nicholas gave false statements about where he was staying and that he had also violated the requirements of the Iowa Sex Offender Registry. Court documents show that Nicholas was convicted of sexual abuse in Buena Vista County in 2014, which he was added to the Sex Offender Registry for life with a Tier 2 status. He was also convicted of a violation of the Sex Offender Registry in 2023 in Woodbury County, which extended the requirements for ten more years. Investigators also found Nicholas had a criminal history of violent and deceptive crimes.

An arrest warrant was issued on February 12th and Nicholas was apprehended the same day, charged with a Class D Felony for his second or subsequent offense for Sex Offender Registry violation and an aggravated misdemeanor for his first offense for sex offender-providing false information. He was booked into the Greene County Jail under a $7,000 cash or surety bond. Raccoon Valley Radio will bring you more information as it becomes official.