72-year-old ‘serial rapist’ on the run for 24 years caught in Missouri, feds say

A “serial rapist” who has been on the run for 24 years was caught in Missouri, federal law enforcement agents said.

Herman Carroll, 72, was arrested in Branson on May 11, according to a May 13 news release from the U.S. Marshals Service.

McClatchy News was unable to locate attorney information for Carroll.

Carroll was arrested in 2000 after being accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl, the agency said. He posted bail, failed to appear in Moultrie County court and has been on the run ever since, according to law enforcement.

A warrant was issued for Carroll in 2001, charging him with predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, federal agents said.

The investigation into Carroll’s whereabouts involved numerous agencies in six states, including Missouri, Illinois, Texas, Alaska, Arkansas and Maryland, according to the agency.

On May 8, the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Midwest Violent Fugitive Task Force received a tip that Carroll was likely in Branson, the agency said.

He was taken into custody three days later and booked at the Taney County Jail, U.S. Marshals said.

Carroll was convicted of child sex offenses in 1983 and 1993, according to the agency.

Branson, near the Arkansas border, is about a 210-mile drive southeast from Kansas City.

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