A convicted sex offender was arrested on Lundi Gras night after police discovered him selling candy and novelty items along the parade route.

Parades Kickoff Mardi Gras In New Orleans
Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
loading...

Convicted Sex Offender Arrested at Mardi Gras

According to WAFB, officers working the Hera Parade route around 7th Street and Marguerite Street in Metairie approached a street vendor who was selling candy and novelty items to check to make sure he had the proper permits.

Officers discovered the man did not have the proper permits, and soon realized he had also provided them with a false name.

The street vendor was eventually identified as Thomas Devaul, a registered sex offender from New York.

Police learned Devaul had a pretty extensive record containing convictions, indictments, and citations.

From KATC -

"Records show he was convicted of first-degree rape in New York in 1996. The alleged victims were 9 and 11 years old at the time of the rapes, records show. Records also show that he was cited for failure to register as a sex offender in 2014 in New York and that he was indicted in 2017, in Ohio, accused of groping a 17-year-old girl at a fair."

sex offender arrested at Mardi Gras parade
Facebook Via Morgan City Police Department
loading...

 

Officers then discovered that 45-year-old Thomas Devaul, who lives in Patterson, La, had failed to register as a sex offender with the St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office Sex Offender Division.

As a result, more charges were added to Devaul's rap sheet.

According to the Morgan City Police Department, Devaul was charged with the following:

Distributing candy or gifts on
Halloween and other public
holidays by "sex offenders"
prohibited.

Soliciting without a Permit.

Resisting an Officer by False
Information.

Failure to Register as a Sex
Offender
(St. Mary Parish Sheriff's
Office).

Unlawful Presence of a Sex
Offender
(St. Mary Parish Sheriff's
Office).

Devaul was then transported to Morgan City where he was booked and processed.

All subjects are innocent until proven guilty.

Read more at KATC.com.

LOOK: Baby names that are illegal around the world

Stacker scoured hundreds of baby name databases and news releases to curate a list of baby names that are illegal somewhere in the world, along with explanations for why they’re banned.

More From 97.3 The Dawg