A Pike County man convicted two years ago in federal court for being an interstate sex offender absconder was sentenced to prison time in Pike County Circuit Court for failing to report an address change.
64-year old Robert W. Niffen of Rockport, Illinois and formerly of Houston, Texas was sentenced to 5 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for Class 2 felony failure to report an address change and or change in employment for the second time. Niffen was found guilty of the charge at a short bench trial on August 15th.
Niffen, who was on federal parole from a June 2022 conviction for being a sex offender absconder, was arrested at a residence in the 300 block of Landess Terrace in Pittsfield by Pike County Sheriff’s Deputies on the charge in late November 2023.
Niffen is required to register as a sex offender as a result of his conviction for aggravated rape in the State of Texas in 1981, for which he spent 20 years in the Texas State Penitentiary.
Niffen was fined $500 and given credit for 3 days served in the Pike County Jail on the new conviction.