On May 29, a warrant was issued for the arrest of a convicted sex offender accused of failure to register. On June 28, a second warrant was issued in a separate case. On Monday, he was booked in to the Greene County Jail after he was taken into custody in the Terre Haute area.

Paul Eugene Bedwell, 27, had been living in Jasonville but left without notifying the Greene County Sex and Violent Offender Registrar as required by law. Deputies made numerous attempts to locate him with no success. Prior to the warrant being issued, he was registered as living at 423 N. Meridian Street in Jasonville with a work address at Purdue Farms in Washington, Ind.

Bedwell was convicted in Greene County on May 16, 2012, of sexual misconduct with a minor, a Class B felony. He was sentenced to 10 years – with five years suspended and five years in the Indiana Department of Corrections.

Following his release from DOC, he was to serve the five suspended years on probation. Bedwell was first released from DOC in December of 2013, into a work release program. But more than once, he was back in court on petitions to revoke and in 2015, he was returned to prison then released again in June of 2016.

As a result of his conviction, Bedwell is required to be registered on Indiana’s Sex and Violent Offender’s List for 10 years. In Bedwell’s case, that’s until October 14, 2025.

Under Indiana law, he’s required to notify the Registrar within 72 hours of any change in his address/place of residence.

Back in May, Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Jordan Gooding was called in after Greene County Sex and Violent Offender Registrar Temperance Harris and Greene County Sheriff’s Special Deputy and Civil Processor Bruce Porter tried but were unable to locate Bedwell.

Deputy Gooding said Bedwell was in violation of the requirements to register, that he’d moved and failed to notify the Registrar. In preparation to file a criminal case against Bedwell, Gooding reported on the efforts of Special Deputy Porter.

On Friday, May 18, Porter traveled to Jasonville and went to three different addresses trying to locate Bedwell or speak to someone who could verify his address. No luck. Porter was back in Jasonville again on Saturday, May 19 – no success, but he left his business card tucked into the door frame of Bedwell’s last known address.

He did speak to a neighbor who told him that late in the afternoon on Wednesday, May 16, Bedwell had loaded personal items in a vehicle and left. The neighbor said he had not seen Bedwell since.

When Porter made yet another trip to Jasonville on Tuesday, May 22, he still could not locate Bedwell but noticed his business card was still in the door frame.

A case was then filed against Bedwell in Greene Superior Court, with a preliminary charge of failure to register as a sex or violent offender, a Level 6 felony, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Also in late May, another case was filed against Bedwell, also in Greene Superior Court, with a preliminary charge of knowingly or intentionally operating a vehicle without having a valid driver’s license, a Class C misdemeanor.

A summons was sent to Bedwell ordering him to appear at an initial hearing on June 28. The mail was unable to be forwarded and was returned to the court.

Bedwell was a no-show at the hearing and the second warrant was issued.

Since the warrants were issued, Bedwell’s whereabouts were unknown, but he was picked up in Vigo County, then transported back to Greene County and booked in to jail by Greene County Sheriff’s Special Deputy Karen Oliphant on Monday.

In addition to the two pending cases in Greene County, Bedwell is now accused of violating his parole from Indiana DOC and is being held without bond on a parole revocation.