Sex offender arrested in Coburg had porn, rope in his van, police report shows

Sept. 22--COBURG -- A California sex offender who failed to register for the past two years was arrested in Coburg earlier this month with pornography and a rope in his van.

Scott Andrew Lawrence, 54, was arrested Sept. 6 on a charge of failing to report as a sex offender. He was initially charged in Lane County Circuit Court, but the case was dismissed this week, and he has been recharged in federal court with the felony charge.

According to the Coburg police report, Lawrence repeatedly claimed he didn't believe he had to register, but the officer "did not buy his belief," the report states.

In 2001, Lawrence was sentenced to 14 years in a California prison for sexually abusing a child under the age of 14, according to federal court documents. He was released from prison in 2012 and was required to register as a sex offender for life. In 2016, however, when Lawrence's parole ended, he informed the state he was moving to Oregon, to his father's ranch in Canby. He signed paperwork that stated he must register as a sex offender within three days of arriving, but he never registered, according to the federal criminal complaint.

Lawrence admitted to Coburg police this month that he lied in 2016 and went to Arizona instead of Oregon but was not clear when he arrived in the state, the police report states. He received a citation in Roseburg in July for second-degree criminal trespass, court records show. He told police he sometimes sleeps in bushes, at rest areas or in his van. He also claimed to have resided at the home of a stranger he met at a rest area along Interstate 5.

Coburg police spotted Lawrence's red 1998 Dodge Caravan near Industrial Way and Roberts Road around 10:45 a.m.Sept. 6 and pulled it over at the nearby Shell gas station because the van's registration tags were expired. Lawrence has no driver's license and no insurance, the police report states. He allegedly lied to police about a number of topics, including his address, when he bought the vehicle and how long he has been in Oregon. The police report states Lawrence claimed he bought the car the day before police stopped him, despite providing a bill in his name for work done on the vehicle last month in Creswell.

Bryon Carroll with the U.S. Marshal's Service authored the federal criminal complaint Sept. 10. Carroll was involved in a crackdown on sex offenders earlier this year that led to 70 arrests in Lane County. The crackdown, "Operation Oregon Nights," was one of the largest local law enforcement operations in recent history, Carroll had said.

There are 2,171 sex offenders in Lane County, including 434 who have failed to report a change of address or complete an annual registration, among other requirements, according to the marshal's office. That means that about 1 in 5 were out of compliance with the law. Noncompliance also can mean failing to provide updated information related to employment or college enrollment.

The operation occurred throughout the late afternoon hours and at night in the six weeks between April 29 and June 9. The operation focused on investigating and locating the noncompliant sex offenders, as well as apprehending sex offenders with active warrants for a variety of crimes, the U.S. Marshal's Office said.

Thirty-seven people were arrested with active warrants, including James Joseph Rivers, a convicted murderer and unregistered sex offender from Vermont. Rivers was found living in a van in Cottage Grove after he had been on the run from authorities in Burlington, Vt., for two years. He has since been extradited to Vermont and charged in federal court.

Authorities also conducted 188 sex offender compliance checks -- including 19 compliance checks on high risk and predatory sex offenders -- at their residences throughout Lane County, primarily in Eugene, Springfield and Coburg.

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