Sex offender who spent months on the run back in Idaho Falls jail - East Idaho News
Crime Watch

Sex offender who spent months on the run back in Idaho Falls jail

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IDAHO FALLS — A convicted sex offender is back in Idaho after skipping numerous court appearances and dodging the law in another state.

Deon Waynewood, 41, made his initial court appearance Thursday on a felony witness intimidation charge over Zoom from the Bonneville County Jail. Waynewood arrived at the Bonneville County Jail Wednesday after spending three months behind bars in Arizona. He was arrested on Idaho warrants.

During a court appearance Thursday, Magistrate Judge Mark Rammell kept Waynewood’s bail on many charges at over $1.5 million. Waynewood will also have to appear before District Judge Dane H. Watkins Jr. on Feb. 15.

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Before his arrest and extradition to Idaho, Waynewood had been on the run since he failed to show up to his June jury trial. The US Marshal’s office arrested Waynewood in Colorado shortly after a warrant was issued for his arrest. Despite a warrant holding no bail in Idaho, a Colorado court set bail at $10,000 that Waynewood posted shortly after.

After posting bail in Colorado, Waynewood didn’t show up to a rescheduled jury trial. District Judge Dane Watkins Jr. signed a $750,000 bond bench warrant. Despite already having active warrants for his arrest, the new warrant demanded Waynewood be brought back to Idaho Falls.

Waynewood’s alleged crime occurred in 2019. Investigators alleged Waynewood sexually assaulted a young teenage victim between 10 and 100 times, according to an affidavit of probable cause. Waynewood was charged with multiple counts of lewd conduct and sexual battery, and a judge set his bail at $500,000.

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Waynewood asked a judge to reduce his bail several times and Bonneville County prosecutors objected every time. After a hearing in March 2020, Watkins reduced bail to $150,000 which Waynewood posted. Waynewood had been in custody for nearly a year at the time he posted bond.

In May 2021, Waynewood showed up at the Bonneville County Prosecutor’s Office. At the time, prosecutors were meeting with the victim in preparation for a trial. A no-contact order already in place prohibited Waynewood from approaching and contacting the girl.

A prosecutor told Waynewood he could not be at the office and asked if he had anything to say. Waynewood refused to leave for several minutes while the victim had to be kept in a back office. Once Waynewood left, the Idaho Falls Police Department escorted the victim home.

During an investigation, prosecutors learned Waynewood spotted the victim’s car outside of the prosecutor’s office.

Waynewood’s criminal history in Bonneville County is extensive. In 2016, he violated a no-contact order. In 2015, he was convicted of enticement of children and unlawful access to schoolchildren, all misdemeanors. As part of his probation, he was supposed to have no contact with minors, according to court documents.

In Colorado, Waynewood received a sexual assault on a child conviction in 2000, putting him on the sex offender registry.

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