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February 29, 2008

Marshals arrest former Rusk officer in Houston

By Kelly Young

kyoung@jacksonvilleprogress.com

Christopher Michael Hennessy, a former officer with the Rusk Police Department, was arrested Thursday morning by the U.S. Marshals Service in Houston.

According to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department, Hennessy, 27, fled the area a year-and-a-half ago in order to avoid local charges, and they have been pursuing him ever since.

“Hennessy was first arrested on Nov. 18, 2004, for the sexual assault of a child. He was an officer with RPD at the time of his initial arrest. He was later found guilty of the crime and placed on probation,” said Chief Investigator Chris White. “He first registered with CCSD as a sex offender on Nov. 23, 2005, and he was required to register with us once a year on or about his birthday, which is in September.”

In 2006 Hennessy was again the subject of a CCSD investigation, this time for possession of a controlled substance and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He was arrested Aug. 17, 2006, on both charges. According to White, at that time, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was also investigating Hennessy for allegedly possessing an improvised explosive device; however, no charges were ever filed by ATF.

“Shortly after our PCS arrest, we received information that he had fled the area. Obviously, since he fled the county he has not re-registered as a sex offender here, and charges for failure to comply were added,” White said. “Since that time we have been interviewing family members and friends, and trying to track him down. Occasionally, we would get information that he was coming back into town, and we would do surveillance of the areas that he was likely to return to.”

White said CCSD received information Wednesday that Hennessy was living under an assumed name in Houston, and relayed that information to the marshals, who made the arrest about 8 a.m. Thursday morning at Powertuff Rigparts.

“He is currently being booked into the Harris County Jail, and we are awaiting his transfer back to Cherokee County,” White said. “We are certainly pleased to have located him and to have him in custody again. This case affected many people in the community, not just the victims. With his prior law enforcement experience we felt this arrest was something that needed to occur so that the community can have some closure.”

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