Robert Lee Moone, who was granted parole in 2010, was not allowed to leave Encore House in Austin without submitting a travel plan. (MyFoxAustin.com)
AUSTIN, Texas – A high-risk sex offender was on the run in Texas after walking out of a halfway house and cutting off his electronic monitor, myFOXaustin.com reported.
Robert Lee Moone, who was granted parole in 2010, was not allowed to leave Encore House in Austin without submitting a travel plan.
But he disappeared from the house Tuesday, and authorities were unable to track him after he removed his monitoring device.
In 1989, Moone was jailed for 45 years by a Travis County jury. According to court records, he broke into a home armed with a knife and tried to sexually assault a 13-year-old girl.
After he was granted parole, he was placed on a "Super Intensive Supervised Program" with 24-hour monitoring.
Authorities issued an alert Tuesday and asked residents to keep their guard up.
"When they are walking around their neighborhoods, areas that they feel safe in, and around campuses, areas that they feel safe in, there are people looking for an opportunity to commit a crime," University of Texas police officer Darrell Halstead said. "And if they are walking down the street totally oblivious to what's going on around them, it makes them an easy target for a criminal."
The manager of Encore House said that Moone did not cause any trouble but became frustrated because he could not leave and get a job. A family member was paying his rent at the facility.
It was the second escape of a high-risk sex offender in Texas within a week.
Michael Elbert Young, 42, climbed over a barbed wire fence at the Southeast Texas Transitional Center in Houston on Thursday night after removing his electronic monitor.
Young served eight years in jail for aggravated assault and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the Houston Chronicle reported. Both charges carried a sexual element, and Young also served time for the sexual assault of a child and attempted aggravated sexual assault convictions.
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