Williston sex offender arrested in Orlando, attempting to board international flight
Mugshot, Feb, 20, 2021, Orange County Jail, Orlando, FL.
On Saturday, February 20, the Levy County Sheriff’s Office received information from the United States Marshals Service that a registered sex offender, 49 year-old Joel Ramirez, of Williston, Florida, planned to leave the country on an international flight, that was due to depart the same day, from Orlando, Florida to Bogota, Columbia.
Mr. Ramirez had booked the flight on February 18, but had not notified the Levy County Sheriff's Office, where he is registered as a sex offender, of his intent to leave the country, which is required by Florida Statutes, that any sex offender or predator notify officials in the county where they are registered, 21 days in advance of any travel out of the county where they live and are registered.
When LCSO Corporal C.J. Perryman confirmed that Mr. Ramirez had purchased a ticket to Bogota, Columbia on February 18 for a flight scheduled to depart Orlando on February 20, without notifying the LCSO of his planned international travel, he secured a warrant for Ramirez’s arrest and coordinated the arrest with the United States Marshals Service, the Orlando Police Department, and the Orlando Division of Customs and Border Protection Agency.
Ramirez, who had been convicted in 2013 of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child between the ages of 12 to 15, was arrested by the Orlando Police Department while attempting to board the plane in Orlando. He was booked into the Orange County Jail on a charge of unlawful intent to leave a sex offender's jurisdiction, and is being held on a $200,000 bond, awaiting transfer to the Levy County Detention Bureau in Bronson, Florida.